Everyone's a puppet
by Mem0ry
Summary: Naruto goes to Suna a young boy, returns a puppeteer in training. Grey Naruto who aspires to make people fear puppeteers again.
1. Prologue

**Puppeteer Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto watched people go about their day with a bored and disinterested look on his face. Naruto Uzumaki was a six-year-old orphan with surprising circumstances that led to him living alone in an apartment paid for by the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The man treated the boy like a grandfather would his own kin and would meet with the boy as often as possible while also giving him a stipend that all orphans would receive. The man could be seen in the streets interacting with the boy occasionally as well as eating with him in the Ramen stand Ichiraku Ramen.

The boy had a close relationship with the Sandaime and it was one of few. The boy knew close to no one else other than the Sandaime and the Ichiraku's. He was hated by most as a result of him hosting the Kyuubi no Kitsune due to the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze sealing it in him.

As opposed to how the younger generation thought it was defeated, it was actually sealed inside of young Naruto at birth. The boy was Minato's own son as well as the son of Uzumaki Kushina, the only remaining Uzumaki in Konoha. Because of her dense chakra and Uzumaki longevity, Naruto had the capability to actually contain the fox inside of him thanks to the Shiki Fuujin Minato had cast which resulted in him summoning the Shinigami and having it seal the Fox into Naruto with the cost being Minato's life.

The boy was unaware of these things though and was treated terribly by the village he resided in while also currently adoring said village, despite the spite and hatred from the locals. The boy was lonely like most six-year-old children would be when having no family. The boy would mostly sit in his apartment, not leaving unless he absolutely has to due to the cruelness of the people in the village he did not want to interact with them.

He had been called antisocial by everyone who was close enough to him for it to matter. He heard them, he simply didn't care if he was or wasn't.

His only female friend Ayame tried to get him to interact with people his own age but he would always respond with the fact that the parents wouldn't let him near them and she would sometimes drop the subject but also sometimes keep the borderline daily argument up. Due to him almost never really being outside he did not have the same complexion that most Konoha residents did and his complexion was closer to an Uchiha's with his pale skin and shaggy ash blonde hair.

He remembered it being sunny blonde once upon a time but it seemed to lighten over the years, he added it up to his staying indoors so often. Due to him staying indoors so often he had taken to the past time of carving and reading. He would read close to anything he could get his hands on and he would carve wood if he couldn't read. Carving wood was a simple thing but the only problem was he sometimes did not have the tools to carve things.

Purchasing things had been a problem for the longest time before he had finally convinced the Sandaime to teach the henge. The old man had been reluctant but after hearing Naruto's reasoning complied with the justification he wouldn't use it for wrong. Naruto would now henge himself into a brown-haired boy with a cheery attitude and tan skin, a bright contrast to Naruto himself if he needed to purchase anything he would become 'Doji' he had dubbed the boy.

Currently, he was sitting in his room with a bored expression as he watched either adults and families go on with their day, children run around like nothing is wrong with the world, or people do their job. Today was the day the Sandaime would come and give him his Stipend and books. He did not have any carving tools since his makeshift chisel had broken three days ago. He had a hatchet that would make the rough cut but he needed the chisel for polishing off the cut.

He had found a broom in the street months ago and had taken it before all of the wood off leaving the straw at the end. He had then cut that straw into three sections before attaching one section to a block of wood with a handle on it. That had become his sanding utensil and was able to carve and do many different types of things with wood. He may be six but due to him doing nothing but reading for most of his days he had a rather vast knowledge of words and was quite mature.

He was broken from his thoughts by a knocking on his door. He stood from his position on his bed and padded to the front door before opening it and revealing the Sandaime Hokage in his robes with a kind smile on his face. Naruto could never understand how even through all three World War's the man could still find it in himself to smile, despite the hundreds lost and the countless he had killed he still smiled like a normal old man who hadn't seen a single battle.

"Hello Hokage-sama." the boy said as he bowed slightly before being smacked on the back of the head lightly. "Does this count as private?" asked the boy as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I would assume your own home counts as privacy Naruto-kun." replied the man, voice filled with mirth as he walked into the apartment with Naruto shutting the door behind him.

"I dunno, you always got those ANBU with you so it's never really private." the young boy said with a shrug, noticing how the Hokage almost tripped over his robes when the boy said that.

"How do you know about my ANBU?" the man's voice had lost all mirth and now it was the voice of a man who had been Kage longer than most had lived.

"I can see their chakra, well feel is a better word for it." the boy said as he seemingly pointed to an empty corner. "A woman ANBU is there," he pointed to another corner. "A male," he pointed to behind his living room chair. "A male," he pointed again to right above them. "Another male," he said as he put down his hand, not noticing the shock on everyone's face. For one to be able to sense at such a young age was almost unheard of, not even the Nidaime's sensing had been that strong when he was that young.

"And how long have you had this... ability?" asked the Hokage as he looked down at the boy in front of him. Naruto shrugged.

"Awhile I guess," he said as he went to his kitchen. "Tea Jiji?" asked the boy as he started boiling some water and prepared a cup.

The man took a little while to digest the words Naruto had just told him. He seemed to come back down to reality and looked in the direction of the kitchen. "Yes, please," he said as he sat down in a wooden chair Naruto had made a month ago. It was truly a good chair since the Sandaime could sit in it comfortably and it spoke levels of Naruto's ability as a wood carver. He would compliment the boy on his handiwork but the boy had already heard it from him.

This chair was actually laminated which was very rare for Naruto to do. He had done it since he was lacking on things to sit on in his apartment and the chair would work, no one wanted to sit down and get splinters. The man sat there in comfortable silence as he waited for Naruto to return with his tea. He took this time to inspect the apartment and it's differences since he last came here. It wasn't very different despite the unfinished wooden mannequin on the table next to Hiruzen.

It was rather large, as big as Naruto if he was right and it seemed like the boy got halfway done before stopping. It almost looked like a puppet that a Suna puppeteer would use. If it had a face and hair and weapons it would look a lot like one. "Jiji?" asked a bored voice next to him as Naruto held the tea in front of his face. Hiruzen's eyes slightly widened at being caught off-guard before taking the tea with a grateful smile.

"Why make such a large one Naruto-kun?" asked the old man as Naruto shrugged.

"Wanted to try somethin' new," he said as he stared down at the model on the table with his arms crossed. "Couldn't finish cuz my chisel broke." the boy said as he looked at the Sandaime out of the corner of his eye. The man made an understanding hum as he set down his tea before fishing a scroll out of his robes. Naruto hastily took it before unsealing it, revealing three books and an envelope of Ryo. He pocketed the envelope and inspected the books, handing the scroll back to Hiruzen.

The old man stuffed it back into his robes and sipped tea as he watched Naruto inspect the book names. "Third Shinobi War History?" asked the young blonde as he held the thick book with both hands.

"I thought you may like to know more about ways people fought, you still haven't chosen what kind of fighter you will be yet, have you?" asked the old man as the young boy shook his head before inspecting the other two books. One was on Sealing and the other was on the Clan Wars state with history. He didn't understand the sealing but the other two he could get.

Hiruzen had actually given him the sealing book because Minato had written it for beginners and he believed that if anyone could progress in the sealing arts it would be the son of two Seal Masters. "Thank you for the books Jiji." the boy said as he went into his room, setting those books next to his others but in a different pile. He put the money in his wallet and discarded the envelope. The apartment was very clean for a young boy who lived alone.

The wood floor was swept clean and the counters were not dirty, there was not a speck of trash outside of trash bins and it spoke volumes of the kind of person he was. "Thank you for the tea Naruto," the old man said as he slowly rose from the chair. "I would usually stay longer but I have a meeting in a few minutes that I have to attend. You are always welcome to come and ask me questions at my office if you have them." the man said as he started walking from the door.

"Actually Jiji," the teen started as the old man turned all the way around to listen. "I was following Kakashi-san the previous day," the boy started and Hiruzen bit back a sigh. The young boy had been obsessed with the man since he was three. The man had been his ANBU guard at that time and now that he thought about it, it made sense since the boy probably recognized his chakra signature and followed him occasionally as a result.

"He went to do his...daily ritual," the boy did not want to expose how Kakashi would grieve his old team at the Shrine. "Well, when he got there I looked at the stone too," the boy looked into Hiruzen's eyes. "My mother's Uzumaki Kushina wasn't she?" Hiruzen's eyes almost flew out of their sockets, confirming Naruto's theory.

"H-how did you find out?" asked the man as Naruto's gaze grew cold as he looked at the man.

"Why did you lie?" asked the young boy and Hiruzen let out a long sigh as he rubbed his temples, this was very bad for him. If Naruto could find out his mother by his surname, then he prayed the boy didn't try and figure out where he got the blue eyes and blonde hair from. "You told me you had no idea who my parents were and I believed you if you hid who my mother was then you probably know who my father is as well." the thinning of Hiruzen's lips answered his statement.

"So you knew both of my parents yet refused to tell me who they were." the boy whispered as he looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried, he hadn't even cried when he'd gotten thrown out of the orphanage but the stinging sensation in his eyes told him he was crying. He had always thought those that cried were weak, they would try and get people to feel sorry for them to make them and give them things out of pity.

"Naruto-kun I did not tell you who your parents were because I did not think you were ready. There are people who would hurt you if they discovered who your parents were." the old man tried to explain himself.

"Who was my father?" the young boy asked with a pleading tone that matched his crying face which he had tilted up to look at the Hokage. The boy now had tears streaming out of his eyes and dripping onto the dry wood floor and it broke Hiruzen's heart but he couldn't tell him.

"I-I'm afraid I can't answer that Naruto." Hiruzen had done a lot of things in his life that he regretted. He had let Orochimaru live, he hadn't been there for Tsunade, he didn't save Minato and Kushina by performing Shiki Fuujin himself, but he thought this took the cake. The look of utter betrayal and pain on the blondes face hurt him so badly and made him feel every single year of age he was.

The blonde turned from the Hokage in his apartment. "P-Please show yourself o-out, Hokage-sama." the young boy choked out the words but they still managed to twist a knife in his gut from the hate and pain behind the words. The grief-stricken six-year-old then walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Hiruzen left that apartment with his head hung in sadness as he made his way to the Hokage tower.

Naruto was curled up on his bed, silently crying as he stared at the wall in front of him. He sniffled as he rubbed his nose and sat up. He couldn't sit here, crying like a stupid child when he could be doing much more productive things. He stood up with a frozen visage, tears leaking from his eyes. It would be so helpful if he was a perfect being, someone who couldn't show emotion or cry about stupid things like this. He grabbed one of his new books and started reading.

* * *

Dawn light shone through Naruto's window causing the boy to squint to his maximum ability to try and keep the light from invading his eyes. It was for not though and he reluctantly opened them, showing a book on his chest that was open. Due to how it had fallen on him, one of the pages of the book had folded. Naruto's brow furrowed in questioning as he wondered when he got this book, then he remembered the way he had left things off with the Hokage the previous day, almost causing him to flinch.

His face became emotionless as he thought of how his mother was indeed Kushina Uzumaki. He picked the book off of him and unfolded the page, pausing as he did so as he looked down at the book. It was about how Suna'd had puppeteers, people who attached their chakra to a wooden puppet they had and used them for combat. Naruto's eyes widened as he read on, fascinated with these puppeteers. he ended up reading for close to three more hours, learning everything he could from the book about puppeteers.

He learned that they were a rare type of fighter and only Suna had them. Puppeteers usually needed the same level of chakra control that Med-nins needed due to them needing to literally solidify their chakra and make it solid, controlling the puppet with the chakra they expel through the line as they did so. The book did not say anything about any famous puppeteers though and that disappointed him slightly. He was sure that the ability to control basically an army of warriors that could take a lethal blow and also dish one out at the same time.

He knew there was a book filled with powerful ninja and if there were any powerful puppeteers they would be in that book. Kakashi was always reading a book, it may not be the book he needed but it was a start. He knew just where to find him as well, he then left for the Memorial Stone which Kakashi would hopefully be at.

He arrived at the stone a few minutes later, wearing the usual attire that he wore upon leaving the apartment. He wore a dark brown hoodie that obscured most of his face and body from view as well as long black pants and he was able to make his way through the village unseen thanks to the attire. He arrived at the Stone, pulling off his hood as he did so. Kakashi was not there, much to his ire but he knew the man would come here eventually so he could just wait.

He walked up to the stone, scanning it with his finger before it finally rested on one name, Kushina Uzumaki. He knew nothing about her except her name and the fact she was his mother. He didn't know her face, didn't know her voice, didn't know her hair, didn't know her clothes, he didn't even know his own mother's smell. He had heard that water is sweet but blood runs thicker. He later discovered that the water was people you aren't related too and while they may look good, nothing beats blood.

He wouldn't know the difference between blood and water if he looked at a picture of his mother. He wondered if his mother loved him. She may have asked the Sandaime to keep her identity secret so she wouldn't be related to him. Was she so ashamed of him? "Never thought I'd find my little follower here." said a lazy voice from behind Naruto, instantly causing him to stiffen. He couldn't remember the last time he hadn't been able to sense someone approaching him, was he really that caught up in his thoughts?

"I came to talk to you Kakashi-san." said the boy as he raised to his full height and turned his dull blue eyes on the man. They, like his hair, had once been bright and full of life but now was a more light sky blue as opposed to the old navy blue they had been.

"Oh? And what would little stalker-kun like to talk about?" asked the silver-haired man never raising his eyes from his book.

"I wish to get a certain book." the six-year-old started. "The book that holds the name and bounty of powerful Ninja, I assume you have one?" asked the boy as Kakashi finally dragged his one visible eye to meet Naruto's own eyes.

"You mean a BINGO book?" he received a nod in reply. "Why would you need such a book hmm?" inquired the man as he went back down to his Icha Icha.

"I would like to look up names of certain people and that book has names of all kinds of powerful people. I will pay you for the book if need be." the young man said as Kakashi hummed in thought. He put away his Icha Icha and retrieved another book roughly the same size before throwing it to Naruto who caught it. "That easily?" asked the young man as Kakashi shrugged.

"Meh, if you're going to be a ninja then you need to know about potential opponents, that book has info." the man shrugged off his reasoning for giving the book to Naruto as he went to the stone. "Who were you here for?" asked the Jonnin as he looked down at three names.

Naruto was somewhat reluctant to tell the man but eventually found no reason not to tell. "My mother." the blonde boy said before flipping up his hood and walking away, noticing the silver-haired man's eyes widen in shock.

Naruto shut the door to his apartment and shed his hoodie and sat down in his chair he had in front of his workbench before flipping through the pages. He discarded everyone who wasn't a puppeteer and continued reading. He found two C-rank threat puppeteers but they weren't even primary puppeteers, simply minor ones that mainly did Taijutsu but had learned puppetry once. He started to lose hope when he finally reached S-rank after finding next to no puppeteers.

BINGO books were arranged alphabetically and he almost lost hope when he reached the S letters and his hope blossomed as he looked down on the first S-rank person of the letter S, Sasori of the Red Sands. He had sloppy red hair that somehow still looked neat. His skin complexion was similar to Naruto's in the fact that he was pale and barely had any tan to him, despite being from Suna. His features were borderline perfect with the lack of anything really showing he is human.

His brown-almost amber eyes stared at Naruto through the picture and Naruto was awe-struck. The man had apparently gotten his name for spilling so much blood with his puppets in the Third Shinobi War that he had gotten the Moniker the Red Sands. He had created loads of amazing puppets but suddenly left Suna sixteen years ago and hadn't been seen since. Even despite him leaving his village Naruto felt a bit of stardom as he stared at Sasori's picture.

He would love to master the ability of puppets but it was a Suna art, he doubted they had the knowledge for it here. He knew one thing he could try and do, it would be risky but it could work. He stood and made himself a little breakfast before leaving the apartment for the Hokage tower.

* * *

He sighed as he waited in a chair outside the Hokage office. The attendant had just walked in to inform the Hokage he was here and Naruto closed his eyes and tried focusing on his breathing to calm himself. "He will see you now." said the lady as she sat back in her seat at her desk and resumed the work she does.

Naruto gave a grateful nod she didn't see as he stepped through and kept his hood on, not wanting to face the man. "Hello, Naruto-kun." said the old man as Naruto bowed.

"Hokage-sama." said the young boy as he maintained his bow for another two seconds before standing straight. "I know this probably seems strange but I have come to ask for a favor. I would forgive you if you were to grant me this favor." said the boy, gaining Hiruzen's complete attention. Seeing he had it he continued. "I wish to go to Suna." said the blonde making Hiruzen furrow his brow. "The reason is that they have books on Puppeteering and Konoha doesn't, I figured out how I want to fight.

"I was reading that history book you got me and I found a section on puppeteers. The ability to control an entire army of puppets to fight for you, I would love that ability! I know it would take me a long time to get to that level but Puppets are also good on their own, they don't need to be in numbers. So yeah, can I go to Suna?" asked the boy and Hiruzen blinked. This was the brightest he had seen the boy in years, Naruto did not smile this brightly nor was he this enthusiastic about anything.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair as he mulled over this information. He would love to send Naruto there but he couldn't just send Konoha's jinchuuriki off by itself to a foreign country, despite his own feelings on the matter. He glanced down at the paper on his desk, he read the last three lines.

 _"...I_ f _possible could you come to Suna to confirm and sign the changes of the treaty in the next week."_

"How about this," the man said as he leaned onto his forearms against the desk. "I have to go to Suna here in a week, you come with me, learn what you can and grab books on the subject and when we leave you keep those books and knowledge, sound like a deal?" said the old man as Naruto nodded with a megawatt smile.

"Thank you... Jiji." said the happy boy as he bound out of the room to go home, not noticing the smile that formed on the Hokage's face after hearing what he called him.

Naruto was still smiling as he walked into his house and sat down at his workbench before grabbing a kunai and getting to work. He soon had Sasori's BINGO book entry nailed to his wall next to his workbench and he grinned up at the picture. He went back to reading as much about Suna as possible from the history book on the Third Shinobi War so he wouldn't be entirely clueless upon arrival.

* * *

 **Puppeteer Naruto story... Yeah. Been wanting to do it for a while but never got around to it but I finally said fuck it and did it. This will be a grey Naruto story but he is still six, he gets greyer as he gets older. Sorry it's short, it's a prologue so it won't be as long as the other chapters.**


	2. Meeting the Sabaku's

**AllhailtheSith: It'll be the latter but those types of things won't be happening for at least ten or fifteen chapters. He's six right now and he's going to be seven next chapter so it'll be a while before he starts doing those kinds of things.**

 **The feedback for this story has been insane! You all really like this story, I'm glad.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes in slight annoyance as he walked through the desert to Sunagakure. While he knew it was a desert and that desert's contained sand, he failed to think of the fact that sand is capable of getting everywhere. He felt it between his toes, between his fingers, in his hair. He wasn't surprised Sasori left this place, he would too. "It's not sand everywhere in the village, right?" asked the young boy as he and the Hokage walked through the deserts, the man's ever-present ANBU there as well with their concealment technique active.

Hiruzen simply chuckled at Naruto's misfortune and continued walking. "Yes there is sand in the village hidden in the sand Naruto, They have hardened most of it inside the city however so it won't spread easily." the man explained as Naruto hung his head in mock sadness. He couldn't wait for a shower and then he would find someone who was a puppeteer and ask them to teach him some stuff, he hoped his plan worked. It wasn't really a plan but he didn't have a better idea on how to get knowledge on training to become a puppeteer.

He had brought his BINGO book and his profile on Sasori with him to Suna, he didn't exactly know why he brought the picture of the red-headed teen but the BINGO book was for a lady called Chiyo. He had read through all the people in Suna who were in the book yesterday and apparently Chiyo taught Sasori and if he could find her and ask for some tips and tricks he could see himself becoming a good puppeteer.

His only problem was that puppets usually included poison, hence why Sasori and Chiyo were poison experts. Apparently, it was handy to have the poison to take down your opponents over time if your puppet didn't fully kill them. He would have to ask the woman for tips on making poison as well as how to make cures for said poison so he didn't kill himself with it. Gears turned in his head as he thought of all the different things he would need to be able to learn and get tips for.

He was broken from his thoughts by a nudge to the shoulder by the Hokage. "We're here." said the man as Naruto looked up from the sand and saw a massive circular wall of solidified sand. He couldn't help but think about the people who were forced to solidify all of that sand and make this massive wall, their job must suck. He and the Hokage walked up to the entrance of the village and Naruto noticed how one person vanished and teleported away, most likely to tell the Kazekage they were here.

He didn't know too much about the Kazekage. He had this thing called Gold Dust Release where apparently he controlled this gold dust to attack his enemies and the man also had three kids apparently. The Hokage talked with the gate guard but Naruto wasn't really paying attention to it, he was paying attention to the village in front of them. He could only barely see it due to the massive wall that was mostly in the way but he could still see bits and pieces of the village from his position and it looked huge.

The Hokage started moving forward and Naruto joined him as the two plus their ANBU escort made their way down the tunnel before coming to the sight of Sunagakure. It looked similar to a beehive in Naruto's opinion. It was divided into eight sections which seemed to be divided by massive roads with the Kazekage tower in the middle of the whole village. He and the Hokage started making their way down the road and Naruto looked around at their surroundings.

Naruto noticed how vendors littered the edges of the streets and that was probably the marketplace, the road. Naruto noticed how on the right most people looked rather poor and their clothes were basically rags while on the left people wore elegant robes and walked around reminding Naruto of the Hyuuga's with how they walked. Naruto frowned slightly at the blatant day and night difference between some in the village but said nothing, that was how it was in the world, some were rich some were poor.

He did notice how the Jonnin and Chunnin seemed to all have a sword on them. It was strange since he thought Kumo and Kiri were the countries with the most sword-wielders. Maybe the information was outdated, he mused.

They made it to the Kage tower in good time and Naruto was already feeling sick of the color beige everywhere. Konoha had a lot of green but it had other colors, not just green buildings, green floor, green clothes, green skin. They just didn't have that. "The Kazekage will see you now Hokage-sama." said the attendant as Hiruzen nodded at the man. Naruto briefly noticed half the man's face was covered but didn't bug him on the matter.

"Naruto I want you to come with me and meet the Kazekage." the man said as Naruto nodded and followed the Hokage into the office. The room was made of sand but items were not such as the floor was wood and the desk was wood and the chair was metal and so on and so forth.

"Kazekage-sama." the Hokage said as he shook the Kazekage's hand.

"Hokage-sama." the gravelly voice of the Kazekage greeted as his vision turned to Naruto who kept his vision straightforward to the man. "Who is the child, Hiruzen?" asked the man as he turned to the boy and walked in front of him.

"Naruto Uzumaki, he came here with me in seek of some knowledge." said the Hokage as Rasa raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of knowledge?" asked the man and both Hiruzen and Naruto could hear the warning tone in his voice as he regarded both Naruto and Hiruzen. Naruto rolled his eyes, thinking the man wouldn't see it but alas he did. "Something to say child?" asked the man as Naruto turned his bored gaze up at the man.

Naruto pursed his lips but spoke when Hiruzen gave him a nod. "I just find it stupid how you think I would be here to steal village secrets when he just told you to your face that I would be getting knowledge," the boy said as Rasa narrowed his eyes in annoyance and amusement at the child.

"I've seen spies your age and people who tell me to my face to throw me off, I was not being stupid." the man responded as Naruto shrugged.

"I wasn't calling you stupid just the reasoning behind your suspicion stupid. If he really wanted me to gather information on your village he could easily have just left me out of the meeting altogether and I would already know several things." the boy said as Rasa smirked.

"Interesting child, how old is he Hiruzen?" the man said as he returned to his desk and sat behind it.

"He is Six Rasa." said the elderly man as Rasa nodded. "And the knowledge he needs is puppeteer knowledge, we have close to none of it back in Konoha and young Naruto-kun here wants to be a puppeteer, so I let him come with me so he can try and pick up some knowledge on the art." Rasa's eyebrow raised at the mention of puppetry.

"A Konoha child wanting to learn puppetry," the man briefly chuckled at the oddity of the situation. "My son, Kankuro is actually an aspiring Puppeteer under Chiyo-sama he has even taken to using some old puppets Chiyo's old apprentice made." the man said as Naruto practically bound forward.

"Puppets made by Akasuna no Sasori!" the boy exclaimed as Rasa's eyes narrowed and HIruzen almost snapped his neck turning to Naruto.

"How do you know that name Naruto-kun?" asked the old man as Naruto reached into his robes and pulled out his profile on Sasori from the BINGO book. Hiruzen reached over and picked it out of his hands and inspected it. "This is from a BINGO book. How did you get your hands on a BINGO book page Naruto-kun?" asked the old man as Naruto pulled out his BINGO book, causing Hiruzen's eyes to widen. Hiruzen tried to grab that too but Naruto stuffed it back into his robes.

The only reason Naruto had robes in the first place was that Hiruzen had told him to don some robes for the heat of the sun in Suna so Naruto was wearing some light blue robes Hiruzen had bought him. "I was given this book by someone." the boy said as he reached over and grabbed the picture of Sasori. "I mean no disrespect to you nor your village Kazekage-sama. But Akasuna no Sasori was the best puppeteer this world has ever seen, I would attempt to follow in his footsteps and be as good with the art as him." said the boy and while Rasa did not seem satisfied with the fact the boy practically adored Sasori, he didn't say anything.

"Would it be possible for me to meet your son?" asked the blonde and Rasa's eyes narrowed for a brief second before shrugging.

"The boy needs friends anyway. He is at my mansion, my attendant will take you there." then with a quick calling his attendant was here and shunshining away with Naruto to the Sabaku mansion.

* * *

Naruto was rather dizzy but the firm hold on his shoulder kept him from falling over. "Sorry about that, first time that happens is always the first, I'm shocked you didn't hurl." he praised Naruto as he turned away from him. "TEMARI! KANKURO!" he shouted and Naruto closed his eyes in annoyance since the loudness didn't help the dizziness at all. He did sense two small signatures darting towards their position.

Soon a dusty blonde-haired girl stood in front of them and a brown-haired boy with a wrench in his hand. Naruto grinned as he looked at Kankuro, slightly unnerving the boy. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, he came here per the Kazekage's request and I assume you will attend to his needs right?" he asked the last part with a hardening of the voice that showed it wasn't optional. The two nodded and the veil-wearing man patted Naruto's shoulder. "I'll send the Hokage your way when he's done in the meeting." Naruto gave him a nod as the man disappeared.

"So, who're you?" asked the young girl with a smile and Naruto turned his indifferent gaze to her.

"Naruto Uzumaki." he said as Temari beamed.

"Nice name!" she slightly flirted but Naruto was oblivious and just nodded to her. "So, why're you here?" asked the girl and Kankuro had already turned around to head back into his room.

"I wished to see the puppets of Akasuna no Sasori." the boy said causing Kankuro to stop dead and Temari to groan. "Your father said I would be able to look at them, may I?" that wasn't true but they didn't know that. Kankuro turned around with a grin.

"You sure you want to mess with the legendary puppets of Sasori?" his answer was a nod as Temari left in a huff and Kankuro waved him towards his room.

Meanwhile, with Naruto and Kankuro the two were inspecting the two puppets, well Kankuro was explaining stuff and Naruto listened. "I was told you were being trained by Chiyo-sama." the boy said as Kankuro blinked at the sudden observation.

"Err, yeah I guess I am. Why?" asked the brown haired boy as Naruto shrugged.

"I wished to be able to learn something from her in my stay here. I leave with the Hokage tomorrow so I am trying to learn as much as possible before then." at Kankuro's confused stare he elaborated. "Konoha has no information on puppets, hence why I came here to learn about them and hopefully learn enough to try and become a puppeteer myself." the close to silver-haired boy explained as Kankuro nodded.

"So what **do** you know?" he exaggerated the do as a hint for Naruto to tell him what he knows.

"I know that Puppeteers were famous during the Third Shinobi War but now there is a small amount remaining. I know that it requires chakra strings to connect to your puppets to control them. I also know that the puppet usually has dozens of secret traps inside it which it uses it to catch it's target off-guard. But after that I know close to nothing other than it would be possible that with enough skill one could control around ten puppets at once with a finger per puppet." the blonde finished his brief knowledge of Puppeteering and Kankuro face-palmed.

"Alright, let's start with what I did." Kankuro further proceeded to take the puppet apart before it was in hundreds of pieces. "This guys name is Kuroari, I want you to completely rebuild him." the older boy said as Naruto looked at him with skepticism all over his face.

"Are you sure? I know nothing about this puppet and could mess up horribly, resulting in either of our deaths," he said as Kankuro shrugged.

"I took out all the deadly weapons and stuff, you just gotta build the puppet itself." the brown-haired boy said as Naruto nodded and set to work, kneeling as he did so. The next few hours were spent with Naruto trying to reconstruct the puppet to what it used to be. He finished as he sat back, sweating from the concentration it had taken him to try and get each individual piece together.

"Doesn't look too bad dude," Kankuro said as he connected his chakra strings to it and had it punch the desk, resulting in its fist going through the desk. "Not bad at all..." muttered Kankuro as he looked at the result. "Damn, you know this puppet better than me. First time I tried I put its head on its ass." Kankuro snickered lightly at the memory. He turned thoughtful before shrugging. He grabbed the actual blades that attach to the arms and attached them as well before leaving the puppet there.

"Alright, now let's go over chakra strings." the brown-haired boy said. "You need a lot of chakra control to be able to form the strings and the higher your control the higher your skill with the strings. Here in Suna, we have a lot of different techniques for chakra control but I bet you have different ones in Konoha so I'll let you polish that stuff over there. The main thing about Chakra strings is you can connect em to anything if your skill is high enough-" They were cut off by Gaara walking into the room.

Kankuro turned pale as he saw Gaara enter his room. Gaara looked right at Naruto. "Mother says to kill you." said the boy as Naruto's danger senses went off like crazy. Some sand started pooling around his feet and Naruto's eyes widened at the fact this boy was going to try and kill him. He thanked the gods that he was a chakra magnet as he started pulsing his chakra and dived out the window. He had once been attacked by a drunk mob and after that Hiruzen had told him to flare his chakra if ever in trouble.

Luckily the window was open as he hopped through it, resulting in him to hit the sand harshly making him groan in pain but saw the sand chasing him so he got up ignored the pain and he just made a sprint for it in the direction of the Kage tower. By now his chakra was flashing like a beacon and everyone in the area was feeling the chakra fluctuating rapidly. It seemed his body conditioning had clearly not been good enough over the past year with little to no exercise and he felt the sand snag his ankle and knew he was dead.

He felt the sand begin to crawl all over his body and slowly surround him and he turned to see a frightened Kankuro and Temari watching as Gaara walked to Naruto with a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry, mother wants your blood." The boy said as he squeezed his fist. Right as that happened Naruto felt the tightening of the sand briefly before he felt free and was no longer surrounded in the sand he opened his eyes and saw Hiruzen holding him while the Kazekage was glaring at his son.

"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" asked the old man as Naruto nodded into the man's robes before sighing heavily to try and calm his beating heart. He extracted himself from Hiruzen's embrace and turned and looked over before walking within hearing range although carefully. By now it seemed as if half the village was here after feeling Naruto's chakra and watched Gaara and the Kazekage interact.

"You had no reason to do that to visitors Gaara!" he thundered as Gaara pointed at Naruto.

"B-But mother said he's like me! She said she wanted Nine's blood!" he screamed as he held his head with both hands, it would seem the Ichibi was yelling at him. Rasa wasn't focusing on that, he focused on the boy behind him and Hiruzen who had turned pale as a sheet at Gaara's declaration.

"Is he right Hiruzen? Did you bring a Jinchuuriki into my village without my knowledge?!" the man hissed at Hiruzen while Naruto became confused. He had read about Jinchuuriki in history books before and how they were humans who contained one of the Nine Nine-tailed demons inside them. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as the words registered. If Gaara was right then Naruto was a Jinchuuriki. It all made sense, why no one liked him, why there were so many secrets, why the Hokage himself spent so much time with him, why his birthday was the same as the Kyuubi attack.

He held a hand to his head as he cried for the second time in a few days. It was truly strange how he could cry at strange things like that. "He is right Kazekage-sama." whispered the ash blonde boy as he turned his teary-eyed gaze to the Kazekage. "I am the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi No Kitsune, Nine-tailed demon fox. It all makes sense," by now the blonde didn't even seem to be talking to anyone else. "I was born on the same day as the attack and was used as the host for the demon fox which the Yondaime Hokage sealed in me before dying." the boy then staggered forward and now stood right in front of Gaara a creepily calm smile on his face.

"You are the Jinchuuriki for one of the demons as well. I do not know which one though. But I can confirm that there are Nine of the demons and since the number means how many tails they have, it also means their power. So, Nine is strongest," the boy suddenly started laughing as if he had truly gone crazy. He stood there laughing like he was insane as he stared into Gaara's eyes. "Your demon protects you," the boy said as he pointed at Gaara.

"If you attack me, the demon will probably protect me too and kill you. Don't attack me Gaara, I don't wish for you to die." the boy said as he did the unspeakable.

He touched Gaara.

Everyone watched shell-shocked as Naruto smiled at Gaara. "Since we both share a demon that kinda makes us related huh?" asked the boy as he stared into Gaara's teal eyes. Gaara felt fearful of the power the blonde held in him and just robotically nodded. Naruto gave a genuine smile this time. "Nice to meetcha, brother," he said as he walked forward and hugged Gaara, shocking the boy as to why mother had gone so silent.

* * *

Meanwhile, in their mental planes, their two demons were both there. When the two touched the mental planes became merged for the time they were in contact.

 **"Kurama!"** hissed the tanuki as he stared at the fox who sat in a forest while the tanuki in a sandstorm desert.

 **"Chibi."** said the gruff voice of the Nine-tails, drawing a hiss from the Tanuki. **"SILENCE!"** the fox roared as the tanuki instantly silenced itself in fear. **"You tried to attack me and my host out of fear, you damn gaki. I am going to make you see why I'm the strongest."** with those words the massive demon leaped on the one-tailed demon and viciously ripped it piece by piece. Now the Tanuki simply laid there with its limbs separated and its body sitting in the middle with its head sitting a little ways away. **"There, now you will leave me and my host alone or I'm going to come back and make sure you don't show your dusty face again, GOT IT!?"** the demon lord boomed as Shukaku nodded in submission while sand started connecting the limbs and head together.

Kurama huffed as it left the plane and returned to its own as the worlds divided again and now both could no longer see the other.

* * *

Naruto smiled at Gaara who now had a small smile of his own. Naruto had actually had to bend down slightly to hug the smaller boy but he didn't regret it. Naruto then turned all the way around and looked up at the Kazekage. "Are you going to remove me from your village?" asked the blonde as he seemingly returned to his previous state. Rasa slowly shook his head.

"You seem to have a good seal that keeps it held down so you may remain here." said the man as Naruto bowed before him before turning to the Hokage.

"Am I allowed to return to learning puppetry with Kankuro-san or are we leaving Hokage-sama?" asked the boy and while most would see it as someone simply asking their leader for permission, Naruto and Hiruzen both knew the level of disappointment and anger Naruto felt at Hiruzen right now.

"No, you are allowed to return to your lesson." said the Sandaime with a defeated tone as the two Kage left to the tower. The crowd slowly dispersed until all that remained was Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, and Naruto. Naruto walked over to Gaara and smiled at him before putting a hand on his shoulder and directing him in Kankuro and Temari's direction.

He noticed the fear in Kankuro's eyes and put up his other hand to placate the boy. "I am not going to suddenly start killing people, my demon is under control. I think. And my demon seems to calm Gaara's so me and him will be fine as long as we're close. May we resume the puppetry lesson?" asked the six-year-old as Kankuro nodded slowly and kept looking at Gaara.

Temari walked over, tears in her eyes as she walked over. "Hi, Nee-chan," mumbled Gaara with a happy smile as Temari let out something that seemed to be a mix of a chuckle and a sob and dived forward, hugging Gaara as she did so. Naruto didn't want to test his luck and continued to touch Gaara on the shoulder just in case the demon was calmed by contact not sheer presence.

She sobbed as she hugged the smaller boy. She was currently just a small amount taller than him so she could comfortably hug him and sobbed into his neck. "She hasn't been able to touch him for a few years and she loves the whole sibling thing with him." Kankuro filled Naruto in who nodded in acceptance of the information which explained the moment.

She got up a few moments later rubbing her eyes and sniffling. "Sorry," she mumbled as she turned away from the three and left back for the house. Naruto shrugged off the odd behavior and went with Gaara in tow to Kankuro's room.

"Did I hear puppetry?" asked an elderly voice and the three boys turned to see Chiyo herself standing behind them, her eyes squinted and her hands folded together in the sleeves of her robes.

"Chiyo-baasama," spoke Kankuro and Gaara waved lightly to the woman. Naruto himself bowed low to the poison/puppet expert of Suna.

"It is an honor to meet you, Chiyo-sama." spoke the youth and was whacked on the top of the head by a wooden cane of some sort, eliciting two reactions. A hiss of pain from Naruto and a growl of anger from Gaara whose sand started swirling. "It's okay Gaara." said the boy as he put a hand on the red head's shoulder. Gaara seemed fine but the underlying anger in his eyes and the clenching of his fists indicated he was not okay with her just hitting Naruto.

Chiyo herself acted as if that didn't just happen and kept smiling her kind smile. "Call me Chiyo-baasama, everyone does in Suna." said the woman as Naruto nodded. "So, my student who still has much to learn is teaching another hm?" she questioned them as Kankuro shrugged.

"Just teaching him the basics. He doesn't really know anything so I ran him through the rebuild thing. Funnily enough, he got Black Ant on the first try." he said as Chiyo furrowed her brows and looked at Naruto with something between consideration and sadness. The only person Chiyo had ever seen get that on the first try had been Sasori and he was still a sensitive subject for the older woman so she was somewhat sour now.

Naruto bowed again in front of the older woman. "It would be an honor if you could teach me some things Chiyo-sama." said the boy as Chiyo squinted her eyes even more if possible.

"I bet you think puppetry is simply a game like Kankuro here don't you? You'll simply learn how to control the puppet then give up learning anything else." She said with as much venom as one of her poisons. Kankuro had looked away in shame when she used him as a bad example.

"No, I would like to learn how to vitalize poison as well for my puppets to use the poison. I would then like to learn some of the healing arts so I could use them in close combat and be able to also heal myself if the time arrises." said the boy as Chiyo's eyes widened in shock.

 _"I would use the power of puppets and show the world their true strength! I will use poison and healing to form the unstoppable puppet army!" spoke Sasori and Chiyo smiled as she began her lesson._

Now that she thought about it, the boy looked a lot like Sasori. His hair was similar and his skin was flawless despite the three whiskers on each cheek. But the whiskers did not seem very visible, almost as if they were fading away. Now they simply were the same width as a hair and one would have to squint to see them. He even wore the same color of robe as Sasori had and had that same disinterested yet excited to learn look in his eyes.

Maybe, Maybe with him, she could right the wrongs she had done with Sasori. "Maybe, let us go watch you learn the basics." said the woman as the party of four headed off in the direction of the Sabaku mansion.

They left Black Ant inside of Kankuro's room and stayed inside the living room. Chiyo withdrew two scrolls from her robes and set them down a fair amount of distance from each other before unrolling them and unsealing the scrolls. In two dual puffs of smoke there now laid objects on the scrolls that were not there before. On the left was three small vials of black green and purple liquid. On the right was one of her puppets.

"In one of these vials is a knockout poison, One has a fatal poison that takes three minutes to fully affect the human body, and the last one has a paraplegic poison that will paralyze the person that is injected with it within ten seconds. Which would you use on an assassination mission?" asked the woman and Naruto frowned.

"Do I have the antidote to all thee poisons?" he asked and received a head shake.

"Only for the paralysis and knockout," she said as Naruto frowned and stared at the three vials as he thought of what he could do.

"I... I would use the paralysis since if my puppet was going to be fighting him the paralysis would make him vulnerable a few seconds later. Then when he is vulnerable my puppet would kill him and finish the mission." finished the boy as Chiyo nodded in acceptance.

"Try and control my puppet," she said as Naruto frowned.

"I don't have hardly any chakra control Chiyo-baasama. I don't even know how to form the strings," he explained but she just narrowed her eyes at him.

"Just try," she told him as he rolled his eyes and opened his hands in the direction and tried pouring chakra into his hands. He didn't know how to properly form chakra in the first place so he was mainly going off instinct and poured chakra into the direction of his hands. The result was blue glowing all around his hands in a strange aura and sweat forming on his brow. He stopped as he panted and sat on his butt to try and relax.

"That was a good attempt, you at least know where to expell it from now. Keep at it," she said as she walked over and picked up her things, resealing them as she did so before putting the scrolls inside her robes. "Kankuro, try and get him some control on his chakra," she said and with those words, she was gone from the Sabaku mansion.

* * *

Chiyo walked into the Kazekage's office, ignoring the attendant telling her not to. She came to the sight of Hiruzen and Rasa chatting like old friends but both quieted down upon seeing her. "Chiyo? What are you doing here, I thought you were with my children?" he questioned the woman.

"I was, but now I'm here," she said with a happy smile that made Rasa roll his eyes. "I came here to actually ask Hokage-sama a favor," she said and both men's attention and curiosity were peaked. Chiyo was a very stubborn and slightly nutty woman, for her to ask a favor would be hell freezing over. "I would like to borrow Naruto for a year." both men almost stood up at the question. Chiyo raised her hands in a placating motion. "Before your panties get in wads think about this Rasa, the boy calms down Gaara and if Gaara can form a friendly or brotherly bond with Naruto it would benefit both villages and solidify this alliance.

"Naruto also shows true promise in the area of puppetry and he needs a teacher, not those books you could get from us. I doubt he'll be missed in Konoha since Jinchuuriki are hated everywhere," she sent a pointed look at both men at that and both slightly dipped their heads in shame. "And if there are people that care for him just tell them he is on a training trip or something. It's not forever it's just for a year, I should be able to teach him what he needs by then." she finished her speech as both men mulled it over in their heads.

"Where would he stay?" asked the Kazekage as Chiyo shrugged.

"He could stay with your family or he could stay with me. Most likely with yours because he needs to be there to calm down Gaara," she added as the man nodded.

"He was supposed to start his academy years this year, he will be behind the other students if takes a year here," Hiruzen said with a hand on his chin. Chiyo scoffed at the slightly older man.

"If I train him he will be able to graduate as soon as he gets back." she taunted the old man who pursed his lips but said nothing. "Looks like we are all in agreement then!" then lady exclaimed with a happy smile as Rasa raised a hand to his forehead.

"I can practically feel the paperwork this is going to bring." the man muttered as Chiyo smiled.

"Would you like to tell him Sarutobi or should I?" she asked as the man raised a hand.

"I will," he said with a sigh as he looked at Rasa. "I'll be back soon," he said and with those parting words, he was gone, leaving the Kazekage with a smiling Chiyo.

Hiruzen arrived at the front door of the Sabaku mansion and sighed. He was sure Naruto could sense him by now and as if hearing him Naruto opened the door, staring at him with an indifferent facade. "Yes, Hokage-sama?" asked the boy as Hiruzen withheld his wince, he was going to be leaving for Konoha while the feelings between him and Naruto were going to be so strained.

"You will be staying here in Suna for the next year," he watched the boy's eyes widen to unrealistic proportions. "Chiyo asked if we could perhaps allow you to stay here. The decision was easy for me since this is what you want to do and who better to get training from in the art?" said the older man as Naruto smiled lightly.

 _'Sasori'_ Naruto thought but did not say as he smiled at the old man. Now that he had calmed down slightly he knew the man's heart had been in the right place by hiding those things from him. The man had never tried to put Naruto in any unconditional pain and had always put Naruto at the top of his priority list. "Thank you. I don't know what to call you, you lied to me for years but you have also been nice. I... It's very conflicting. But nonetheless, thank you for the opportunity to learn under Chiyo-baasama." he said and Hiruzen smiled back at the boy.

"I will tell the Ichiraku's of your new living location. Is there anything else Naruto-kun?" he asked the young boy who shook his head in the negative. He really had no attachments in the hidden leaf other than the Ichiraku's and Hiruzen. He might have some sort of connection with Kakashi but that was simply because he was almost indebted to the man due to his protection. "Well, I will see you in the morning Naruto-kun, I have heard you will be staying here." said the man and they heard a child yell in happiness as Gaara came out of nowhere and hugged Naruto's waist.

Hiruzen chuckled as he dipped his head one last time to Naruto before disappearing via shunshin.

* * *

 **That is Chapter Two, next chapter will be a time skip to when Naruto is seven and when he has to return to Konoha. I made this type of bond between Naruto and Gaara for reasons that will be explained later on, so yeah.**


	3. Seven-year-old Puppeteer

**Okay, in most cases I have respect for Kishimoto but I have discovered something that has angered me and in my fic, I am going to have it a certain way. Naruto failed the graduation exam three times yet was born after Sasuke, does this mean Naruto took the exam early for three years and failed all three or does this mean he got lazy, forgot about the age thing, and made it to where Naruto is three years older than the rest of the Rookie Nine?**

 **Well, it benefits the story and me if I make him older than the Rookie Nine by three years so in this fic he is older by Three years. This also makes him only two years younger than Itachi which also makes Itachi Nine years old at the time of this fic which means the Uchiha Massacre would happen in two years. Kakashi stated in the manga that Itachi was thirteen when he became ANBU captain, but Itachi beat Orochimaru and joined Akatsuki at eleven so therefore Itachi was eleven when massacring his clan.**

 **So, long story short Since Itachi is Five years older than Sasuke and two years older than Naruto in this fic that means that currently, Itachi is Nine and Naruto is Seven while Sasuke and Rookie Nine are Four. That makes Sasuke Six when the Uchiha massacre happened, Itachi Eleven, and Naruto Nine. So the Uchiha massacre would happen in two years from this chapter.**

 **Itachi becomes ANBU at nine-years-old and ANBU captain at ten before leaving at eleven.**

 **AT THE TIME OF THIS CHAPTER,**

 **ITACHI: 9**

 **NARUTO:7**

 **ROOKIE NINE: 4**

 **GAARA: 5**

 **TEMARI/KANKURO: 6**

 **KAKASHI AND OTHER SENSEI: 25-35**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto's lazy piece of shitty writing called Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto's narrowed eyes looked down at the puppet before him. It was the third puppet he had ever made and it had few flaws one of which he was trying to fix right now. It was modeled to have the lower body of a snake which was a good twenty feet long which then led to an upper body of a four-armed man. In each hand he wielded a double-bladed sword, making him have the ability to overwhelm the opponent with a serious of strikes. He had also mechanized the puppet's main body into three sections, the lower part with two arms, the middle with two arms, and the upper body and neck.

Due to him doing this he can make the puppet spin his arms in different directions, creating a flurry of blade and weaponry for the opponent to deal with. His favorite part was the tank of paraplegic gas inside the puppet's throat and it would then disperse the gas which would envelop the person in the gas. The best thing about the gas was it could be absorbed through the pores of the human skin, it did not have to be inhaled.

So, if the person did manage to block all of the blows from his puppet he would activate the gas and if they were caught in it they would be stunned by it and his puppet could make quick work of them. So, if the opponent could work past the constriction of the snake body, the barrage of attacks from the limbs, and the gas then Naruto had one last trick. His puppet's stomach can open up and reveal a small ball. It was a hollow ball made of wood on the inside was an advanced explosive tag he himself had made.

The explosive tag's power was seventeen times more powerful than a Jonnin issue one. In short terms, it had the ability to completely destroy one of the eight districts inside Suna. He had named this puppet Zenkichi. He knew that Akasuna no Sasori would mark every single one of his puppets with his mark so, Naruto had finally chosen his own mark. It was a nine-tailed crimson fox to show the person who they were truly messing with.

The only flaw he was working on was the tail of Zenkichi, it did not have enough damage other than the aspect it could constrict the life out of an opponent. So, he had hollowed out the tail and was currently finishing and installing the contents he would put inside of it. It was twenty, foot-long metal beams that had four kunai on each end facing outwards with four other metal beams in the middle to hold onto the shell of the tail to keep the installation in the middle of the body and not puncture it.

He had meddled with it to the point where panels would open over the kunai and the kunai would stick out and that way if someone was constricted they would be impaled by dozens of kunai. Normally he would dip them in a poison but he did not see the point in doing so. However, the only complication left with Zenkichi was the fact that it took both of his hands to control it due to all of the different mechanics inside of it. His other four puppets he could control with one hand but Zenkichi took both hands and almost all of his focus.

He believed this was quite possibly the best potential an artificial puppet can have. He knew that Sasori had made puppets out of human people, keeping the Kekkai Genkai. He could only imagine the potential he could grab from people with Kekkai Genkai in Konoha! He wouldn't be able to take people like Hyuuga and Uchiha since their Doujutsu would be practically useless on a puppet. But if he could grab an Akimichi that could be a very dangerous puppet.

Maybe if he played his cards right Sarutobi would tell him where the Kage bodies are kept. If he could get his hands on Hashirama Senju, the possibilities are endless. He could turn the Shodai into a puppet, use it to make wood for future puppets and then have an unbeatable army of puppets. He could also use the Nidaime Hokage as a puppet too, that would be very good for the water element the man had possessed.

His mother also had her chakra chains. He loved his mother but her Kekkai Genkai could be very dangerous. Konoha was home to numerous powerful ninja, Shodai, Nidaime, Kushina Uzumaki, Yondaime, Akimichi, the Kurama clan all of these clans were very strong with their abilities. The others did not have any interesting abilities as puppets sadly. The Uchiha while strong were only able to use their Sharingan and have decent control over fire. (1)

A knock on the door broke him from his thoughts. "Enter Chiyo-baa." he could feel Chiyo's well-known signature through the door but did not have to turn to see her walk through. His puppetry was not the only skill he had increased in his year here.

He had gained more control on his sensing ability and if he sent out a small burst of chakra he could sense the location of people as well as the identity wherever, depending on the size of the chakra burst. He had also developed an ability to make poison and could now make seven different poisons from plants. Three lethal, two paraplegics, and two knock-out poisons. The lethal all were fairly similar in strength and depending on the amount of chakra the victim had the quicker it would act.

If they had small reserved then the poison could work through them rapidly and they'd be dead in a matter of moments if they had Kage-level reserves they had a good three minutes before the poison would take effect and then would have another two minutes before fully dying.

Chiyo was now standing over his shoulder, looking at Zenkichi's naked form. "This is one of the best puppets I have ever seen made Naruto-chan." the woman had developed a good relationship with Naruto since she basically saw him as another chance to correct the mistakes she had made with Sasori. The boy was at the same level of prodigal talent in the art and she had readily taught him everything she could in poisons and puppetry.

She had also taught him the mystical palm but that was it for medical since their time was limited. The hardest thing for Naruto had been learning Chakra control due to the Kyuubi inside of him and the seal constantly micing around his chakra. It was like trying to filter a raging typhoon into a bottle of water, impossible. So, Chiyo had told Naruto to try and enter his mindscape and talk to the beast inside him and try and figure out a way to slow the chakra flow.

 _Naruto looked down at the water he stood in with distaste, it was murky and looked as if he had stepped in a literal sewer. He maintained a grimace of disgust the entire walk to the Kyuubi's cage. It had taken a lot longer than he had thought to find the beast but he was slightly disappointed with his mindscape, all he had seen was murky water and pipes._

 _When he did arrive at the cage it turned out to be a massive room which seemed to be cut in half by ten steel bars that were thicker than Naruto. He could see the single tag that said 'seal' that rested on top of a lock and he knew that on the other side of those bars was the Kyuubi. His suspicions were confirmed when a tidal wave of Killing Intent came crashing in from the darkness of the cage. He found it hard to breathe but refused to fall to his knees before this beast._

 _After around ten seconds the KI let up and now it had returned to the previous calm and now it was just him panting as he stared into the pitch-black darkness that was the Kyuubi's cage._

 ** _"I wonder why you do not fall to my power? I could see the pain but your frail body refused to fall, why?"_** _the darkness was interrupted by two massive crimson slitted orbs that stared at Naruto._

 _He quickly got over the shock that it could talk and decided to answer it. "I do not want to show weakness before something that is sealed inside of me," he answered, drawing a growl from the beast behind the bars._

 ** _"I may be sealed by that blasted Yondaime but I am much stronger than you, GAKI!"_** _it's booming voice rung out in his head as a row of sharp pearly white teeth gnashed at him. It was then Naruto realized the demon was not speaking, but simply thinking his commands at Naruto through his head._

 _"Are we able to communicate by thought?" the boy questioned inside of his head._

 ** _"Of course, this is your MINDscape baka!"_** _the demon narrowed it's already narrowed eyes at him and Naruto simply rolled his own._

 _"I came here to stop your chakra from invading my system, why are you doing it?" he questioned the massive fox who growled at him._

 _ **"I did not do anything, this wretched seal is taking away my chakra and giving it to you! I cannot stop it."** now Naruto was frowning if the beast couldn't stop it how could he? **"If you take off this seal then my chakra would no longer be a problem."** the fox tried to use its cunning tactics on Naruto who gave the fox a flat look._

 _"Six and a half years and you couldn't come up with anything better to try and let me give you control?" asked the boy as the fox huffed. "Although, if I ripped off the piece of the seal that had the part that took away your chakra then wouldn't that stop the function?" said the boy as the fox simply continued glaring at him. "This helps me and you why don't you want to help me?" he questioned as the fox grumbled._

 ** _"Remove the bottom left tab, the size of your palm and that should do it."_** _the fox suddenly became rather cooperative as Naruto nodded in thanks and walked over before looking up at the seal a hundred feet in the air. Before he could ask water suddenly rocketed him up, leveling him with the seal. Naruto blinked before looking down and noticing the water had elevated him all the way up by either his own or the fox's will. He did not delay and further proceeded to rip off the bottom left-hand corner of the seal the size of his palm._

 _Even though it was a large amount of seal paper it was only a good tenth of the size of the seal so it shouldn't weaken the seal too much. The portion in his hand evaporated into thin air as the water lowered him to the ground. "Ugh, this water is atrocious." the boy said as the fox growled from his side of the bars._

 _ **"Then change it!"** hissed the Kyuubi and Naruto blinked owlishly at the massive chakra construct. **"This is your mindscape, think it and it will happen,"** it said and Naruto nodded before closing his eyes and putting all of his attention on making the mental image in his head the scene around him. He reopened his eyes and the area was now forest on his right with massive deer which were the size of the Kyuubi, behind him was a lake that was so long and wide he couldn't see the other side._

 _On his left was a valley filled with numerous types of things such as human settlements and rivers that led to the lake behind him with occasional trees and small hills. The Kyuubi's old cage was now a massive cave that had been carved into the side of a mountain with the bars in front of it. "While I am here those bars shall be up but when I leave they shall disappear and you will be allowed to indulge yourself in killing and hunting or whatever suits your fancy._

 _The fox watched the humans and deer mover around with a hungry glint in his eye. He turned his head back to Naruto and narrowed his eyes. Due to the cage no longer being a dark murky area he could see the crimson orange and red fur of the Kyuubi along with it's body, it truly was a massive creature. **"Why do this? I killed your mother and father."** the beast said as Naruto snapped his head up.  
_

 _"Who was my father?" asked the boy with as much as emotion and interest he had shown in his stay at Suna. The fox raised an eyebrow at the blonde boy._

 ** _"Who else in your village had blonde hair blue eyes and wasn't a Yamanaka?"_** _the fox questioned as Naruto's mind raced and even though he couldn't see, a number of images of blonde people ran over his head before settling on one last one. **"Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!"** the fox's voice practically dripped with sarcasm as Naruto shook._

 _He was having a small panic attack at finally knowing who his father was. He was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, that made sense on where he got the eye color and hair color and also explained why he couldn't know who his father was, the danger of people finding out the Kiiroi Senko had a child would be horrible for a number of reasons. Iwa would send assassins, some would fear the rise of another Kiiroi Senko and go to war with Konoha. Some would ally with Konoha for the sheer purpose of having the child of Minato Namikaze on their side._

 ** _"You're not going to cry on me are you?"_** _taunted the massive beast as Naruto shot it the nastiest glare he could. He slowly let out a deep shuddery breath as he tried to get his emotions under control. Once done he had returned to his old look of cold and indifferent._

 _"Thank you for telling me this." the boy then bowed before the massive creature. "As payment for your cooperation in the removing of your chakra I granted this landscape for you, but for this information, it would seem I owe you again. If you can name something within reason I would try to grant it to the best of my abilities." the boy finished as the fox gained a cold look on its face._

 ** _"Kill the Uchiha's."_** _that single sentence almost made Naruto drop his mask as he stared at the fox in surprise. **"I have my reasons for wanting them dead. I only wish for you to grant me this. You said if it was within your capabilities correct? The Uchiha would be easy to eliminate if you plan correctly. They believe too much in their accursed eyes, if you get them while asleep they will be defenseless."** the fox spoke reason. **"Besides, if you kill them all you could use their bodies for your army since there is three-hundred of them."** Naruto's eye soon gained the same glint the fox had._

 _"I think that is a great idea, Kyuubi-san." with those words Naruto vanished from the mindscape leaving a grinning fox who sprung after deer and humans._

Naruto now had an objective for when he returned to Konoha, plan and plot the best time to get them, kill the Uchiha clan, gain Kyuubi's power and respect, gain an army of fighters for his puppets, find Sasori and team up with the man to become the unbeatable Puppet-master duo, find the other Jinchuuriki and have them join his cause, and conquer the Elemental Nations.

 _" **Don't forget to steal Hashirama's body."** _Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox's reminder as he returned to his work with Chiyo watching over his shoulder. Apparently removing that part of the seal had made the beast able to use his senses and see his life through his eyes.

 _"How could I forget to take Hashirama's body? He comes before the Uchiha though, it seems only right the Senju end the Senju-Uchiha feud."_ replied the boy and he heard the fox chuckle in his mind at the true evilness of the situation.

"Why are you here Chiyo-baa?" he questioned in his usual soft voice. The voice may be soft but it never revealed an emotion, simply indifferent softness.

"It would seem Hiruzen is here to pick you up and take you back to Konoha. I would recommend taking out custom sealing scrolls to be able to fit everything into." she murmured before leaning down and hugging the boy from behind.

Naruto may be plotting to murder hundreds of people and break numerous laws as well as abandon his home village, but he did care for the woman hugging him. She had taught him close to everything he knows and had been a mentor, kind grandmother, and a teacher. He set down his tools and turned before returning the hug with as much compassion as he had shown in the past year. "Thank you Chiyo-baa," he whispered as the two separated and he gave her a small but real smile.

The woman returned it before putting her hands back in her robes and turning around. "I will see you outside, your friends and a not-so-much friend are waiting outside," she called, making Naruto roll his eyes. Temari was nicer to him than anyone else. She became a stuttering and blushing mess when he had hugged her once. This had led everyone to believe she had a crush on the much younger boy. He could understand why she had a crush on him, he had given her back her younger brother and she had started admiring him as a result.

The girl was competent and rather attractive for her age so Naruto did not do anything about the crush she had on him, he believed it was more admiration than anything. He sighed as he thought about the first part of Chiyo's information, Hiruzen. The man had been so kind to him but the more he thought about it the more he realized it the more he realized the man had simply been kind to keep him loyal to Konoha. He now was slightly sour about the man and no longer felt the love and kindness he used to for him.

He would have to maintain the facade of the kind and innocent child for Hiruzen so he could have the chance of the man giving him the information of the location of Hashirama's body as well as Tobirama's. He did know where his mother's body was though and that was going to be one of his first objectives upon returning to Konoha.

He stood from his current task, satisfied with how he had finished Zenkichi and started sealing his things. He ended up sealing all of the extra wooden bodies that he kept for spare parts and sealed all of those into one scroll. He then sealed all of his tools for repairing and taking apart his puppets in another scroll. He then resealed Zenkichi in his own scroll since he was his strongest puppet he had his own scroll. He put the scroll for Zenkichi in its holster in his right sleeve.

In his left sleeve, he held his two other main puppets which did not hold as much detail as Zenkichi but were deadly in their own way. He sighed as he put the two other scrolls inside his pants side pockets and looked at himself in the mirror of his workplace. He wore a pullover long sleeve black cloak with crimson lining on the outer edges. The cloak itself went down to his mid-thigh and the high collar for it went to the tip of his nose, obscuring his mouth from view. His sleeves hung a little ways past his fingertips, making it to where people would not be able to see his fingers control his puppets.

Inside the sleeves, he had three holsters in his right and two on his right. In his right one holster held Zenkichi while the other held a poison-tipped kunai that could easily slip into his grip with the jerk of a wrist. On his left, he held both Akihito and Akihiko, his two combination puppets. It also held another poison-tipped kunai that way he would be able to fight with both if the need arises.

He wore grey combat leggings which held a pocket on the side of his legs, ideal for storing something such as scrolls. The leggings were ended by some white binding gauze he had wrapped from mid-shin to the middle of his foot, giving his ankle structure for long duration runs. He wore grey shinobi sandals as well to copy the same color as the leggings.

His hair had gotten even lighter over the year he had spent hear and had gotten to the color of borderline grey which now while messy and spiky, did not stick up like his old hair and hung down, reaching his eyebrows and on the sides went to his collar. His blue eyes were now an even lighter blue, leading them to be a light teal color. His whisker marks had completely faded away, Naruto assumed it was because he was no longer consuming the Nine-tails' power. He sighed since he would now have to leave his comforting basement under the Sabaku mansion and have to go back to his tiny little apartment.

He would be able to get a house within a few days of returning but it was the fact he wouldn't be able to modify any puppets or set up a shop that irked him. He sighed once more before looking around his now empty room which he had used for the past eleven months. He shook his head as he walked to the door of his basement before walking down the stone hallway and making his way up the stairs and opening the door leading to the main floor and shutting it behind him.

He progressed down the now much brighter hall with wood flooring and came to the main room in front of the door. Due to him living inside of a basement for basically the entire time here his skin had remained pale but the evidence of his old tan still kept it from becoming as white as a sheet. He was greeted by six faces upon coming to the room, Kankuro, Gaara, Temari, Baki, Chiyo, and Ebizo. He did not know Ebizo as well as he would have liked but he respected the man as a veteran of two wars similar to Chiyo.

Gaara had grown over the year and now had a mask similar to Naruto's own. The boy had been attacked by his caretaker and had ended up killing him but did not realize it was the caretaker until after the deed was done. The boy had become rather indifferent and cold to most but Naruto was still Gaara's family. He was also nice to Temari and Kankuro since they were also family but his father was as good as dead to him due to him being the man who ordered the caretaker to attempt a kill on Gaara's life.

Naruto nodded to the six people in front of him who nodded back. Kankuro, Naruto had discovered, was a rather lazy and pathetic excuse for a puppeteer. He simply only wanted to learn how to control the chakra strings and learned one poison, a paraplegic. He didn't even make his own puppets he used Sasori's. Temari had gotten strong with her wind element and Naruto recognized her for being six and learning how to try and use her wind element.

The girl had finished the first element of her training and had been able to cut a rock with her wind chakra, an achievement Naruto doubted many were able to do so young. Gaara's control over his sand was admirable since the speed of the sand was around Chunnin-level now and would only get better with age.

Due to him being a year older than the Sabaku siblings he was around the same height as them with Kankuro being an inch taller and Temari being close to the same height. He walked over to the door as they followed him, leaving for the village exit which the Kazekage was already at if his chakra signature was anything to go by. Hiruzen was also there with his ANBU patrol, and Kakashi it would seem had joined them. Naruto suppressed his own chakra signature to the maximum amount possible which was close to the same chakra amount an ant had.

He might have stopped the chakra gaining from the Kyuubi but he was still an Uzumaki and he still had the chakra Kyuubi had been pumping into him for the duration of six and a half years which was close to two tails worth of chakra plus his Uzumaki chakra that naturally was in his blood and being the offspring of a Kage also gave him larger than average chakra which resulted in him having close to three-tails worth of chakra inside him at the moment which was the same amount the Sanbi had, which to put into perspective the Sandaime Hokage has the same as the Ichibi roughly.

The problem for him though was that he had no need for all of this chakra, he could make more powerful seals and pump chakra into them but that was the only plus for all this chakra, he knew no ninjutsu or genjutsu to use this chakra he had. Kakashi was known for knowing close to a thousand jutsu and Hiruzen was called the Professor because of his knowledge of so many things so those men had a good amount of chakra for the things they knew and could use that chakra.

Rasa used his chakra for his Gold Dust Release but other than that he used it for nothing. Perhaps he should try and figure out some kind of fighting style to do with chakra, maybe similar to the Hyuuga? Or he could have it be like Tsunade of Sannin's, she used her chakra to somehow turn it into superstrength for explosive fist strikes which could deal enough damage to cave in buildings, maybe he could try and figure out the secret behind that and incorporate it into a fighting style.

His thoughts would have to be put aside, the Hokage now saw him along with Hatake. He enjoyed the surprise that flashed across their faces, whether it be for not sensing him or his new appearance was unknown. Rasa himself turned and saw Naruto and slightly nodded to the boy which Naruto did not reply since he did not respect nor like the man. The man had tried to kill his Jinchuuriki brother, he would have to pay for this soon. Maybe after he left Konoha he could pay Suna a visit?

"Hello Naruto-kun," spoke Hiruzen with a kind smile that made Naruto sick. Naruto bowed before him and Kakashi.

"Greetings Hokage-sama, Hatake-san." he didn't react to the sadness that crossed Hiruzen's face nor the curiosity on Kakashi's, he did not have to explain himself to them. Kakashi should have adopted him, his sensei was Naruto's father he should have tried to reach out and connect with Naruto not stay to the shadows. Nothing he could change about it though, the past was the past.

"Well Naruto-kun, are you ready to go?" asked Sarutobi as Naruto nodded. "Well, say your goodbyes and we'll be on our way." said the man as Naruto nodded once more before turning around.

He looked at Kankuro who stared back indifferently. Naruto may not like how Kankuro chose to be a puppeteer but the boy was kind to him and Gaara. He reached over and patted the boy's now makeup-covered cheek. "Makeup-chan," he said as turned from Kankuro who was now scowling heavily. Naruto turned to the next person in line, Temari. The girl fidgeted slightly under her crush's gaze and Naruto wondered how he should treat the girl.

 _ **"She would be a good den mother, she will grow up stronger than most females in this world. Perhaps you should be nice so we have a chance of not dying alone."**_ the fox spoke from within his head and while Naruto didn't like the whole den mother thing he did agree with the fox, strong kunoichi were rare in this day and age and she would be a great person to marry and restore his clan with.

He reached up, pulled down his collar and kissed the girl's forehead, causing her to blush heavily as he pulled back, shocking everyone with his actions. "Bye Temari-chan," he whispered as he let his collar return to its previous position as the girl gave a shocked and stuttered nod, her whole head as red as a tomato from embarrassment and close exposure to Naruto due to what he did. Naruto then turned to Gaara who seemed to be the only one not shocked by Naruto's actions with Temari.

"Goodbye, brother," Naruto said as he walked forward and embraced the slightly younger boy who tried his best to hug back Naruto but didn't exactly do it as well due to him being a solid six inches shorter. He pulled back from the hug and rubbed Gaara's red locks as he gave the boy a hidden smile before turning to his right and seeing Chiyo and Ebizo.

He walked forward, embracing the older woman in one final hug. "Goodbye Chiyo-baa. Thank you for everything." he murmured into her robes as he let himself be vulnerable for most likely the last time for years to come. The woman returned the hug with a kind smile. She had at first been mad at seeing the White Fang in front of her but the presence of Naruto had made her calm down and think clearly, the White Fang had both eyes.

"Goodbye Naruto-chan," she whispered back as she pulled away and smiled at the boy who smiled back, not that she could see.

"Goodbye Ebizo-san," he told the old man next to Chiyo who nodded back in respect of the younger man's skills.

"Goodbye Kazekage-sama." Naruto finished as he turned and now stood with Kakashi and Hiruzen, facing the group which had gone to see Naruto off.

"Well, let's go," said Kakashi as he turned around and whipped out his Icha Icha and the group of three set out for Konoha.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he walked through the door of his apartment. The group had tree-hopped through the forest but the desert they'd had to walk and it had taken four days as opposed to the three it takes a ninja who is able to use chakra to make them run faster through the desert. The days had been spent with the Hokage trying to reconnect with Naruto with Naruto trying to resist from releasing Zenkichi on Kakashi for perverted jokes between Temari and him.

He was simply glad to be away from them, he was still as anti-social as ever. That had been the reason he had moved into the basement of the mansion after all. It wasn't that he didn't know how to interact with Ningen, it was the fact that he did not like interacting with them. They were loud and annoying and were all trying to be something they are not. Sarutobi was trying to be a kind old man to Naruto but both of them knew he was simply convincing the Jinchuuriki from leaving.

Kakashi was trying to be the older brother he saw himself as to Naruto but Naruto knew him as nothing other than the sole-surviving student of the Yondaime. Naruto cast a brief glance around the apartment and instantly knew he was not going to sleep here tonight, mice and roaches ran rampant in the rooms and Naruto wouldn't be surprised if there was a cat or two.

He left the place before heading down to the Living areas for Shinobi. His sensing ability was at full blast and he was trying to find an unoccupied house and barely found an empty house at the end of the street making him blink at the luck of actually finding one. If he hadn't he would have had to evict someone and that would be a lot of trouble considering how tired he is right now. He quirked his mouth to one side as he looked at the hardwood door of the house.

It was a standard two-story house from what he could see. He stared at the door before walking around and hopping the fence into the backyard. He made his way to the back door and found it unlocked, it truly was his night tonight. He opened the door and stepped into the house, shutting it behind him. It was completely barren like he would expect an empty house to be and had no gas, electricity, water, or any air conditioning. He could work with this easily but for right now he was tired and wanted to sleep.

He went upstairs and found the master bedroom, it was carpeted. Naruto took out his scrolls and kunai, setting them a short distance away before laying on the soft carpet and closing his eyes, letting sleep claim him.

The next morning we find Naruto walking through the market area. If he was anything, he was sneaky and crafty. So, because of his sneakiness, he had been able to sneak himself a breakfast of fresh pastries that a merchant had had on display. Now, he needed to get his new house furnished. Naruto made his way to a furniture store with an advanced sealing scroll in hand, hidden in his sleeves. The cashier gave him a friendly nod and Naruto nodded to her, she was a civilian, she wouldn't know what happened before he was done.

Naruto made his way to the back of the store looking around seeing a bed and bed frame on display. He walked to it, extending his scroll as he did so. He placed the scroll down on top of the bed, open end facing the bed and made the ram seal. " _Fuin."_ with that soft whisper the bed and frame disappeared, going into the scroll. He then repeated the process with numerous other things before stuffing the scroll back in his cloak as he looked around the store a little longer before finding pillow sheets and blankets and pillows.

He bought these things before bringing them to the cashier and purchasing them, giving the girl a nod as he walked away. He had been given a few hundred Ryo from Chiyo before leaving Suna and if he had ever learned one thing about stealing from a store was the best way to do it was making a purchase to throw them off.

He soon arrived at the front door of his house and took the for sale sign out of the front yard and took it in the house with him, the now unlocked door opening for him. He put the for sale sign inside of the trash before taking out the scroll with the furniture inside the living room before unsealing its contents.

He stepped back from the pile of furniture and summoned Akihito and Akihiko before controlling the two and having them move the furniture into place for the next ten minutes. He now had the layout of the house, it was a two-story house with two bathrooms, four bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a dining room, a large living room, a massive basement, three long hallways, a large backyard, and two massive trees in the front yard, obstructing the house from view by most giving Naruto his privacy.

Next on the list of objectives was running water. He would need to somehow connect his house to the water line without asking, making it to where he would have to dig down and find the water line and open up the line which basically meant he would have to cut open the pipe due to it being welded shut.

He would then have to get gas which would basically be the same process as the water but much more dangerous and then he would have to connect his houses electrical grid to the main line.

He rubbed his temples, this was a lot more work than he thought it would be. He reconnected his chakra strings to Akihito and Akihiko before setting to work.

* * *

Naruto sighed as the hot water pattered his back in the shower. He had done the gas and water lines which had taken eleven hours due to him having to dig all the way down in two different spots which he then had to fill and that was AFTER he did the actual thing he had gone down to do. He'd then had to connect the electric lines and had barely finished at four a.m which led to where he was now, taking a shower with the gas and water he had just slaved to gain.

He knew it was worth it but it was such a pain in the ass to do. His clothes had also gotten dirty and he had forgotten to get a washing machine and dryer so they were now hanging outside to dry off after he had soaked them with the hose.

He was just finishing toweling his hair and about to lay down in his new bed before the doorbell rang and he couldn't help but grunt in anger. Then he stopped, no one should live here so why was there someone at the door? He expanded his senses and felt Hiruzen at the door.

"Shit," he muttered as he padded down the stairs and walked to the front door, swinging it open to find an amused and slightly angered Hiruzen.

"I heard there was a new neighbor so I decided to come over and see for myself." said the Hokage, mirth filling his tone.

"How?" Naruto was sure he hadn't felt any ANBU and he shouldn't be sensed unless the sensor was more skilled than him, something he had never come across.

"You do have Shinobi all around you, you didn't think they would notice you digging massive holes in the ground and the smell of gas in the air? Although I do applaud you on your ingenuity, you not only stole a whole house but also over thousands of dollars in Ryo in furniture and connected the water, gas, and electric so you wouldn't have to pay." the man slightly clapped, drawing a scowl from the borderline naked boy. "But I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to live here."

"Why not? Would you prefer I live in that apartment which is infested with roaches Mice Cats and other insects and animals because no one took care of it while I was gone? Besides, I am harming no one but I am simply living in a house that was abandoned. You paid for that apartment, sell it, buy this house with all of the stipend money that's collected over the year. You would give me a monthly stipend of one thousand Ryo, that would amount to twelve thousand Ryo which I am sure is more than this house costs." his answer was a sigh.

"Now am I allowed to live here?" asked the boy as Hiruzen rubbed a hand over his face.

"Fine, but if you are reported for disturbing the peace I will get you out of here and back into that apartment, agreed?" asked the old man as Naruto nodded before watching the old man walk away. He climbed the stairs before crawling into his bed, letting sleep claim him.

He awoke the next morning and came to the sight of his now furnished room which he took the time to examine now. He had a nightstand next to him with a lamp on it and a clock with it. He had red silk blankets and blue cloth sheets with two pillows that were also had crimson pillowcases. He stretched and stood from the bed, he was currently naked due to him not having any clothes other than the one pair he owned, he would have to change that in case the pair got ruined. He would also need some casual clothes for around the house.

He would also have to see Hiruzen about getting to take the Academy Exam without having to go to the Academy. His skill was good, he could use the henge, a sealless kawarami, mud clone which can substitute the normal clone. His accuracy is superb and while he didn't have a fighting style he was very fast and could evade before giving his opponent a hit to the back of the neck, hopefully.

He would have to set up his workplace in the basement first and apply some privacy seals to the walls. He didn't know any barrier seals yet but he was sure there were books at the library to teach him these things. He suddenly stopped his movements. There was a Scroll that the Hokage had, which contained all jutsu known to Konoha that were Kinjutsu. If he could get his hands on that, copy it, then return it he could have some of the most powerful jutsu in the Elemental Nations, which most likely had seals such as barrier ones.

A wicked grin crossed Naruto's face as he went out back and grabbed his cloak and pants before heading downstairs and setting up his workstations.

He was satisfied an hour later with his work as he stared at the rows of spare part bodies he could choose from and he had a bench which was ten feet wide and had all tools he needed, poison materials, and sealing paper and ink.

The poisons reminded him that he would need to start a garden for plants to make poison with. He left his basement before leaving his house, in search of a tailor who could make him copies of his current pair of clothing.

When he roamed the streets he noticed due to his dramatic visual change as well as never really going outside none of the adults knew or recognized him, this was good since Incognito was his purpose and goal as of now. If he can avoid notice then when he made his move against the Uchiha almost no one would know it was him.

 ** _"We want them to know we did it! We want them to know our power!"_** boomed the nine-tails as Naruto thought over the pros and cons of being found out for massacring the Uchiha.

 _"We would be made S-rank missing-nin which would result in us being hunted as well as the fact you add an even bigger target on my back, whereas if we didn't I wouldn't have nearly the same size target on my back,"_ Naruto replied to the fox without even stopping in real life.

 _ **"You hold the most powerful creature in existence in your gut,"**_ Naruto rolled his eyes, he sometimes wondered which was more vast, the fox's ego, or it's chakra. **_"You're already going to be an S-rank ninja, if we kill those Uchiha we might even get SS-rank if we do it with enough style."_** the beast seemed possibly ecstatic at the end there as images of Uchiha bodies littering the streets filled Naruto's mind along with them nailed to crosses.

 _"No, I kill them, seal their bodies, get out. I'm not staying any longer than possible it is going to be challenging enough to get away from the ANBU."_ the boy replied to the fox in his mind who grumbled. Naruto thought about that possibility of SS. _"I might not get SS from just the Uchiha, but if I get another clan I might."_ he added as a side thought as his brain went into overload on possible ways to do it. If he could take out the Hyuuga and Uchiha, that was both Doujutsu for Konoha gone.

Konoha would become a simple carcass and Iwa and Kumo would become the vultures going for the carcass. If Naruto were to take both Hyuuga and Uchiha down he could easily gain SS-rank with a flee-on-sight order.

 _ **"I like the idea kit. I knew you'd see my way of things eventually,"**_ it spoke as if Naruto wasn't already killing his enemies for him.

 _"I wouldn't be able to take the Hyuuga and seal them too, that would take too long. I think our best bet is to blow up the Hyuuga after I kill and seal the Uchiha. I could make some explosive tags with twenty times the strength, they would take months to make but I have years to do this."_ Naruto's thoughts went a mile a minute all the way to the tailor.

He found the building easily enough, it a building with the words Kayan Tailor on it. He went in and got the order for five copies of his current set of clothes to be made. The man took his measurements before telling him he could have the order ready in one week. Naruto paid him before leaving the building, this time heading for the Hokage building.

He reached the attendant's desk and realized she was too wrapped up in her word jumble in the paper to notice him. He shrugged and simply walked into the office. He was greeted by Hiruzen fiercely arguing with a cripple. Naruto narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at the cripple. The man was oozing confidence and Naruto knew this cripple was not someone worth talking to. Hiruzen stopped the conversation upon seeing Naruto and Danzo turned to Naruto, surprised he hadn't sensed him.

"Leave boy, schedule an appointment." barked Danzo as he glared at Naruto, clearly infuriated about something.

Naruto rose an eyebrow at the old man who seemed to act like he was Kami itself. "This is the Hokage's office, the only person who can make me leave said office is the Hokage himself. Last time I checked the Hokage wore the robes, not the cane." Naruto fired back at him as Danzo seemed to become even angrier.

Hiruzen chuckled at Naruto arguing with Danzo. "It is quite alright Naruto-kun, Danzo here was just leaving," Hiruzen said as the sound of Danzo gripping his cane in anger could be heard before hobbling out of the office. "Now, I didn't expect you to come here so soon." Hiruzen leaned back in his chair as he filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it with some fire from his finger.

"I came to ask if I could take the graduation exam." the boy explained his reasoning for coming, drawing a raised eyebrow from Hiruzen.

"Why would you think you can simply take the exam without even entering the Academy?" questioned the old man as Naruto raised an eyebrow at the older man.

"I trained and have the skills to do it?" replied the boy as Sarutobi blinked.

"Arrogance is not an admirable trait Naruto-kun." chastised the older man as Naruto snorted softly through his nostrils in amusement.

"It's not arrogance, it is simply knowing my skills." the boy's mature voice reached the Hokage who sighed in annoyance.

"Fine. I'll arrange a test for tomorrow morning, go to the Academy at Seven a.m or else you miss it." the man warned and Naruto had to refrain from rolling his eyes, he was probably the most punctual person he knew. "Anything else?" asked the man to which Naruto nodded.

"Please dismiss your ANBU for this next question." The Hokage's face hardened and with a wave of his palm the ANBU were dismissed, privacy seal activated giving them one hundred percent security. "I wish to take my father's last name, I wish to become Naruto Namikaze."

* * *

 **That's probably a good place to end it. See you in the next one, wonder how Hiruzen's going to take the information that Naruto knows his pops?**

 **(1) At this time in the story, he does not know about the Mangekyou.**


	4. Unplanned Actions

**Previously...**

 _"Anything else?" asked the man to which Naruto nodded._

 _"Please dismiss your ANBU for this next question." The Hokage's face hardened and with a wave of his palm the ANBU were dismissed, privacy seal activated giving them one hundred percent security. "I wish to take my father's last name, I wish to become Naruto Namikaze."_

 **And now...**

Hiruzen's eyes practically flew out of his head as he recoiled in shock. "H-How'd y-you know?" the Sandaime couldn't believe Naruto had discovered Minato was his father, only he, Jiraiya, and Kakashi knew that. He knew Jiraiya hadn't even met the boy yet and Kakashi wouldn't reveal something like that, the man was simply too loyal to do something like breaking an SS-class secret.

"A furry friend told me." the blonde said nonchalantly and Hiruzen's eyes instantly darted down to the boy's concealed gut and unconsciously reached into his robes to withdraw a kunai, an action Naruto noticed. "If I were truly the fox I would have killed you while off-guard." the blonde's tone showed he was not amused or happy with Hiruzen's reply to discovering he had connections with the fox. Hiruzen removed his hand from his robes but his eyes remained hardened and fixed on the seven-year-old in his office.

Naruto ignored the gaze on him that came from the man who supposedly was his adoptive grandfather in all but name. "You are in communication with it?" asked the old man and Naruto gave a slow nod as if talking to a child. "You call it a friend, knowing it killed your father, mother, and hundreds of villagers." the man's tone was cold and cautious, just what he would expect of the man who would always put the village first.

 _ **"Do you see? Ningen may act as if they care but we both know they will turn on you in a second! And they call my kind monsters..."**_ the fox's voice trailed off and Naruto gave a mental nod, he knew these things already but Kyuubi had a point, Hiruzen acted as if he cared but he was simply trying to be nice so the Jinchuuriki would stay in the village.

"Kyuubi has told and taught me things you have lied to me about. It protected me from Gaara's sand and made it to where he could sleep, as far as I see it the fox has done more good than any Kage I've met." the boy's voice maintained it's indifference but you could practically taste the bitterness from his tone. Hiruzen didn't even bat an eye to Naruto's cold behavior and simply frowned at the boy.

"We'll ignore this for the moment," all three knew that Hiruzen would be doing something to try and change Naruto's connection to the fox in the near future, it was simply what would he do. "I cannot allow you to have your father's name, the target on you would be too big with Iwa still angered at Minato, they would try and take out their anger on you." the man reasoned as Naruto raised a single brow in questioning of the explanation.

"Isn't that why we have a barrier, ANBU, Shinobi, You? So we can live in our village without fear of being attacked by our enemies? If you can't do that when what is the difference between living here and in the forest surrounding Konoha?" asked the boy as Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at the boy. The truth was Hiruzen didn't like the boy too much, he had been kind before leaving for Suna but now he was simply brattish. Maybe an Iwa-nin attacking him would scare him and set him straight, he could have Kakashi save the boy if it escalated anyway.

"Fine, if you are fine with having a bullseye on you, then you can have your father's name. That also means you gain all Uzumaki and Namikaze funds that belonged to him as well as access to his property, I assume you will move there?" asked the man as Naruto shook his head.

"I like my current place, but I will still want to visit the place at the very least." the boy said as Hiruzen gave one last sigh before standing and walking over to the Yondaime's picture on the wall, beckoning Naruto over as he did so. He grabbed Naruto's hand and without warning cut the appendage slightly, drawing a drop of blood but Naruto didn't flinch other than becoming slightly stiff at the sudden movement. Hiruzen then slid the picture to the side and smeared Naruto's bloody thumb over the wall safe and it opened with a hiss.

Hiruzen opened it before reaching in, grabbing two letters, a scroll, and another scroll. "Here, this is everything he wanted you to have, his funds and other things are in there. Now, is there anything else Naruto?" Naruto didn't fail to notice how he dropped the -kun he would always add to his name, perhaps he had finally gotten under that mask the old man always wore.

"No, thank you Hokage-sama." said the boy before turning on his heel and marching out of the office, a shit-eating grin on his face for what he had accomplished.

* * *

Naruto sat down on the chair in his workplace as he looked at the things Hiruzen had given him, wondering which to look at first. He set down everything but the two letters and put one in his hand and opened the other. He unfolded the parchment, revealing a paper compacted with scribbled and hurried writing.

 _Hey Naruto, so if you're reading this then that means that you are probably all grown up and know about the Kyuubi I sealed in you. -Blood ruins the writing- I am. I know what I did was unthinkable and no father should ever do it, but it was not an easy choice for me at all. At the cost of my life and the ruining of my own son's life I saved the village, the pros outweighed the cons for me and if you don't understand that it's okay._

 _I don't have much time here since I'm bleeding out and all, but I hope you do what you deem is the right choice because no matter what, know that your mother and I will alwa..._

The letter abruptly ends there, most likely meaning his time ended and Naruto let out a few deep shuddery breaths as a few tears slipped from his eyes. He slowly puts the dry and bloody paper on the workbench before picking up the other letter, already knowing who it would be from.

 _Hi Naru-chan! I'm sorry that me and Mina-koi had to go and get killed, I woulda loved being your kaa-chan! I woulda made you homemade ramen, woulda taken you shopping, OOOO I coulda shown you to Mikoto-chan and you and her daughter coulda had play dates! I could imagine you growing all big and handsome like your dad and always being nice to people... I truly am sorry Naru-chan, I wish I coulda been there for you. I know how it is being a Jinchuuriki, lonely. It breaks my heart that you're gonna be all alone in the big bad world, but I'm sure Kakashi will be there to teach you stuff! If he doesn't I'm gonna..._

The letter ends yet again and by now Naruto was openly sobbing as he clutched the letter to his chest. His mother seemed so happy to have him, even in death she wrote how excited she was. His heart hurt, it hurt more than it had ever hurt before and he simply collapsed to the floor, crying and wailing as he clutched the letter as tight as possible.

Kyuubi had it's head down, ears flat against his head as he stared up at the rain clouds that now occupied the seal. He could of course hear and feel Naruto's feelings and it was overwhelming him slightly. His head suddenly snapped up as he remembered something the Yondaime had said right before sealing him. He forced Naruto to enter his mindscape, making the boy fall on his back, still crying as he looked around in confusion.

His eyes met Kyuubi's own and he glared with so much hate and anger and pain that it almost Kyuubi flinch. **"You can see them again."** it's deep voice rumbled as it spoke to Naruto. **"The Yondaime placed a failsafe in the seal that if you try and take off the seal it would summon a part of his soul that had been sealed inside the seal. Simply tug on the main part of the seal and the Yondaime will appear."** No sooner than he had said that Naruto was set in a dead-sprint to rip off the seal and reached it in no time.

He put his two fingers on the crack where the seal laid over and hooked them behind the paper before tugging in his direction as hard as possible. To the Kyuubi's word a powerful arm threw him back and made him crash against the mossy forest floor. Naruto's breath hitched as he stared up at the spiky-haired figure in front of him. "Where are-" was all Minato could get out before Naruto bowled him over in a desperate hug, fresh tears springing from his eyes as he squeezed the mans ribs, burying his head in his chest.

Minato blinked and saw a grey-haired boy hugging him and crying. He had to be in Naruto's Mindscape but last time he checked, his son had blonde hair. His mind combed through the boy's memories and found that it was indeed his son as well as the fact the boy had read the letters. He smiled and returned the hug with the boy, glad he had the chance to hug his son at least once.

"I'm sorry for sealing the Kyuubi into you." murmured Minato as Naruto's sobs turned into happy chuckles before becoming full-blown laughter. Minato knitted his eyebrows together in confusion as Naruto sat up, facing his father and for the first time had a sincere happy smile on his face.

"Kyuubi has never been a burden, he is actually a partner in arms in a way." said the boy as he gestured to around them. "We've got an agreement, he keeps his chakra so it doesn't constantly go into me, and he saves my ass if the situation gets too dire." said the boy as Minato robotically turned his around and saw the Kyuubi sitting there in his cave watching them with a bored expression. Minato blinked at the fact the fox was just calmly sitting there watching them as if nothing was happening.

"I'm not even gonna ask." muttered the blonde man as he turned back to the blonde before his vision caught a three-story deer. "Why do you have massive animals in your mindscape?" asked the man, seeing no point in having such a massive creature in one's mindscape.

"That's for the fox," he said, making the man more confused than before. "The bars fade away when I'm gone from the mindscape and he can hunt those people over there, or hunt that massive deer." Minato nodded as if he didn't just hear the fact his son had a demon inside him causing genocide upon genocide. "Well, let's get to know each other tou-san." both blondes smiled as they started excitedly trading stories back and forth for what felt like hours.

Nothing good lasts forever though, and this was proven when Minato's arm started turning into particles, disappearing into the air as it slowly crawled up his arm. "Ah, seems my time is up. The amount of chakra I put in must be running out," the man turned to Naruto with a fatherly smile, ignoring Naruto's horrified look. "It was good to know my son, I can tell you are going to become someone I can be proud of in the future." the man finished with a glorious smile.

Naruto walked forward and gave the man one last hug, "Is Kaa-chan in the seal too?" he whispered and Minato couldn't fight back the grin on his face.

"She'll show herself when the time comes. Goodbye, Naruto." the man said as he faded away, leaving Naruto alone with the fox. The two simply sat there in silence for a long time, neither moving and while Kyuubi watched Naruto, the blonde boy had his eyes closed, heavy in thought it would seem.

"Thank you again Kyuubi," the boy said as the massive fox narrowed his eyes slightly at the name,

 **"I have never liked that name."** the big chakra construct grumbled as Naruto opened his eyes and stared up at the fox in curiosity. **"My true name is Kurama, I... I permit you to use it."** Kurama said and Naruto blinked, he hadn't known that the Tailed beasts had different names but he also used to believe they didn't talk.

"I realize that this is something you have never done before. I thank you, for letting me be the first," muttered Naruto as he stared down at the grass that moved with the slight breeze the spring air brought. Naruto reached into his pocket and took out his mothers letter, rereading it countless times as if it were the secret to life itself. He soon started mouthing one word over and over. He finally looked up and saw the fox was still staring at him.

"Did you know who my mother was?" he asked the fox. He knew it was a shot in the dark since it was highly unlikely that the fox knew his mother but maybe for some reason it did.

 **"She was my previous jailor."** Naruto's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets at the information that the fox had once been inside his mother.

"Do you know who this Mikoto-chan person is then? She was clearly close to my mother if she was in her final thoughts." the fox tilted it's head up and thought hard.

 **"When Kushina was pregnant the seal was weak, therefore I could see through her eyes for those nine months and Mikoto was the wife of the Clan Head of the Uchiha."** Naruto blinked rapidly before sighing through his nostrils. The wife of the clan head of the clan he planned on killing before enslaving, wonderful.

"Thank you for telling me Kurama. I leave you to your hunting," and with one final bow Naruto was gone from the mindscape and was laying on the cold stone floor of his basement. Naruto blinked once before slightly exhaling through his mouth before getting up, he felt stiff and slightly sore. Probably because he had just slept on a stone floor for hours.

He pushed himself from the ground and stretched, cracking his neck as he did so before walking up the stairs to the main floor of the house. When he had read the letter countless times it made him remember he hadn't been to Ichiraku's since returning, they had been kind to him with no ulterior motive and had even fed him so he can get some food from there before heading to the academy for his test in around an hour.

* * *

Naruto sighed in satisfaction as he walked into the academy, that ramen had been fulfilling and very good. Now, he simply had to take the easy test and become a shinobi, then he could probably drop by the Uchiha compound and meet this Mikoto lady. He walked up to the reception desk and knocked on the wood of the desk to get the woman's attention. Sometimes it scared him how no one could sense him other than experienced shinobi, Konoha had truly gotten weak over the years of fake peace.

The lady looked up and blinked at the strange appearance of a grey-haired young child. "I am here to take my Academy Exam, Saru- Hokage-sama informed the Academy I would be here at seven." the boy said as the woman nodded and went to her book, pen in hand.

"Name?" she asked the boy.

"Naruto Namikaze." the movement of the pen stopped and she looked up again to see Naruto's face and truly inspected him as if expecting to see the fourth Hokage himself. She slowly nodded as if accepting something and pointed to the door at the end of the hall. He got the message and nodded before walking to the door. He listened to the happy screams and excited chatter of the children his age through the paper thin walls, it truly was amazing how people could differ so much yet be the same age.

He reached the door and knocked and heard a grunt admitting him entrance and walked in, revealing a gruff looking man sitting behind a desk reading something Naruto had never seen before. The man looked over the brim of the book at Naruto and sighed before setting it down. "I take it you the kid I'm testing?" asked the man as Naruto nodded. "Aight no time like the present, follow me." Naruto followed behind the taller man and the two were soon at the training spar field for the Academy.

"Make at least five stable Bunshin," the man commanded with little to no effort in his voice, he sounded like a lazy person. Naruto made five clones as asked and the man gave a satisfied nod before Naruto dispelled them. "Here," the man threw a holster for kunai which the boy caught, discovering it had actual kunai in it. "See that target?" asked the man as Naruto looked over and saw a wooden dummy balanced on two cables that ran through its feet and head.

The man walked over and pulled a lever, causing the dummy to start moving left before the man pulled it again and it moved right. "Hit it in the head or center of the chest with every single one of those kunai." the man said as Naruto nodded and looked down at the three kunai before putting three in his left and two in his right hand. He saw the man's hand twitch on the lever and could tell he was probably going to jerk the target in one direction when Naruto threw causing his aim to be off.

He moved his arms forward making the man think he was going to throw and pulled the lever and then Naruto looked at the target and threw for real and hit four in the targets chest and one in the head. "Huh, good job." the man said as he put the lever in the center making the mannequin stop. "Right, well you already passed. If you care about a higher score or anything we can spar where you have to last a few minutes. You care about that or nah?" the boy shrugged as the man shrugged back and the two went inside.

Naruto didn't like taijutsu anyway so he didn't bother with the spar, he passed anyway. "How old are you kid?" the man asked as he went into his desk and started sifting through it.

"Seven," Naruto didn't see a point in not answering him so he gave the man his name.

"Not bad, so you been in Academy for a year now huh?" asked the man as he shut the drawer and chucked Naruto his headband which he deftly caught. It had a black cloth and a shiny new metal.

"No, I never attended the Academy," he answered as he tied the headband around his bicep. The man stopped and stared at Naruto before chuckling.

"Well congrats kid, you're the only person in history to graduate without attending. You're probably going in some book for records or somethin'." the man told him as Naruto and walked away giving a slight bow as he did so. He then left the building, ignoring the gaping attendant at the desk and whispers of children he passed.

Now, he was walking down the street wondering how he was going to convince the Uchiha guards to let him in to see the Uchiha Matriarch. He could try and sneak in but he doubted he could simply hide from one of the legendary Doujutsu so easily.

Maybe if he told them he was a family friend? That could work, the best lies are always part truths after all. He seemed satisfied with his answer and became confident again as he started walking to the Uchiha gates which came into view. The clan compound truly was its own small village inside the village, their compound was probably larger than all other clan compounds comprised together. The Uchiha sure did have the most members with four hundred and a growth rate of three percent every year.

That's what the history book from the Third Shinobi War said anyway. He finally made it to the gate itself and stood in front of the two gate guards who shared a look before approaching him. "What you want Gaki." spoke the man as he stared down at Naruto.

"I wish to meet Mikoto Uchiha." One of them activated their Sharingan and the other just narrowed their eyes at him.

"And why the hell would you wish to meet Mikoto-sama?" asked the man with no small amount of hostility to his voice, he hoped Mikoto wasn't like this.

"I'm a family friend." it wasn't a full lie so the Sharingan eyes couldn't pick it up and the one with his Sharingan active let out a scoff as he deactivated his eyes. The man opened the gate and gestured towards the inside and Naruto entered.

"I'll take him." said the second man who'd opened the door as he walked Naruto down the street. "So, how'd you know Fugaku-sama's family?" asked the man with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't often that someone was a family friend to the Clan head of the Uchiha, especially when they weren't even an Uchiha.

"My mother knew Mikoto-san," Naruto said Mikoto rather forcefully, trying to end the conversation due to him not wanting to really interact with the man in the first place. The only reason he was going to Mikoto was that she might be able to tell him more about his mother. Thankfully the rest of the walk was spent in silence which gave Naruto time to think.

Apparently, this Mikoto had a daughter who was older than him slightly if the letter meant anything. He knew nothing about Mikoto's husband the clan head, Fugaku, he was only hoping the woman was similar to his own mother.

They soon reached the house and the man knocked on the door as if Naruto could not do it himself. Naruto was scowling beneath his High-collar shirt but it would remain unseen due to said high-collar. Naruto expanded his senses and felt a female approaching the door and there was another female further in the house who was tending to a young boy, younger than him at the very least. He cut off his sensing connection and returned his attention to the real world and was actually glad he did for once.

There stood a girl in the door, but with the way she carried herself along with the way she looked she was more mature of a woman then most Naruto had met. She had long black hair that cascaded down her back and reached her hips, somehow seeming elegant yet messy at the same time. She wore a black knitted sweater with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows which revealed her ivory pale flawless skin that was somehow paler than Naruto's own.

Despite the casual top she wore, she still had her ANBU leggings on and to Naruto they seemed rather comfortable considering how baggy they were on the petite female. She was barefoot revealing her small feet which Naruto despite himself found rather cute, and fitting for the female in front of him. She had two faint lines going vertical on the sides of her nose leading up to her charcoal eyes which were watching Naruto cast his eyes over her body.

The eyes held a small amount of mirth but mostly annoyance at being checked out by a stranger inside her own home. She kept her gaze on Naruto but talked to the guard next to him, not that Naruto heard a thing they were saying. She was rather beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He had never felt this weird around females before, he never thought of anyone as a potential love interest simply as a potential ally. But this girl was unique.

 _ **"Hmm? My Jailor has the hots for a girl of the clan he is going to slaughter? I can smell the sappy love story from here."**_ remarked a rather amused and dry voice from inside his mind, making Naruto roll his eyes mentally at the massive Bijuu. He did not deny the claim though, it did sound like something from a cheesy love story. In fact, he believed he had read it somewhere.

He must have been thinking a little too long and hard because the guard had left and now he was alone with the girl he was still staring at. "Are you done undressing me with your eyes or do you still need some more time?" she questioned as she crossed her arms over her slight bust and gave her guest a flat look as he blushed in embarrassment, the first time in years. "They say you're a family friend, why have I never seen this family friend?" she was highly skeptical of the boy in front of her.

She had never seen her mother have any long-term friends other than some red-haired lady years back but that was it. "If we can talk to Mikoto-san about it I can explain." he tried to calm down his blush but a small light pink blush poked out above his high-collar, visible to the Uchiha heiress.

She nodded and stepped to the side, prompting Naruto to enter the house but he dared not adventure and waited for her to walk in front of him and guide him through her house. He took off his sandals at the door and was now walking behind the girl and as much as he despised it his eyes kept trailing down and seeing her rear, no matter how much he tried to stop himself. He finally just shut his eyes and used his sensing ability to stay behind her and not crash into anything.

She, of course, noticed his eyes and almost groaned at the perverted side of all men, but she noticed with some amusement that he at least tried to stop himself and closed his eyes in embarrassment. Maybe she could tease him? She didn't usually act this way but this younger boy seemed like he could be fun to tease. She suddenly stopped moving expecting him to walk right into her not for him to stop at the exact moment she did. "Are you going to try and make fun of me?" he questioned the girl in front of him who blushed slightly at being caught but continued to her mother without another word.

Soon both children arrived at the scene of Mikoto playing with a baby Sasuke who was in his pen. "Who was-" the woman looked up and saw Naruto standing there. "Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know we had guests," she flashed him a kind smile and stood before walking over, extending her hand. "Mikoto Uchiha, may I know your name young man?" she asked him and Naruto nodded before placing his own hand in hers.

"Naruto Namikaze, son of Kushina Uzumaki," he told her and he watched her eyes widen and her grip on his hand tighten. The girl on the side furrowed her brow though and seemed to try and remember something, most likely the name Namikaze.

"N-Naruto is d-dead. W-what kind of joke is this!" she hissed at the end as she withdrew her hand and stared at him with anger brewing in her eyes and he could tell she was going to blow like a volcano if he didn't do something. He held up a hand to pause her and unstitched his cloak and channeled a light amount of chakra, revealing the Shiki fuuin for her to see. One could not fake the Reaper Death Seal so Mikoto was forced to believe it was him.

"N-Naruto?" she questioned and he nodded slowly and she dived forward, hugging him while on her knees. "I'm your Godmother," she spoke as both children's eyes widened Mikoto leaned back and now sat on her knees in front of him. "Kushi-chan made me your godmother and I made her Ita-chan's." the boy's brow furrowed in curiosity at the name and Mikoto blinked. "Tell him your name Ita-chan don't be rude!" she chastised the girl next to her.

She gave a slow nod and turned to Naruto "Itami Uchiha." she bowed slightly before standing back to her full height which was a little above Naruto's own due to the two year age gap.

"Pain? Interesting name." Itami scowled at that and crossed her arms.

"Everyone says that," she mumbled, assuming he wouldn't hear but he did. He could understand where she was coming from, everyone says Naruto means the ramen topping, not Maelstrom.

"Okay, you can be Ita-hime then," he concluded as she locked her gaze onto his. She gave him a small appreciative smile as Naruto nodded in reply and returned his gaze to the woman before him. "I'm glad to know I now have a godmother, who told you I was dead?" he asked as the woman quirked her mouth to one side.

"Sandaime-sama said you died with your parents on that night," she muttered but put a big smile on her face. "But you're here now and that's all that matters." she finished with a happy smile which Naruto returned ever so slightly before the woman stood to her full height. "So, how's my godson doing, where does he live, is he going to be a ninja, I want to know it all," she said as she went and sat on the couch next to the playpen, patting the seat next to her.

Itami went and picked up Sasuke while Naruto sat in the seat chosen for him by Mikoto. "Well in order of your questions, I am doing very nicely, I live in a house I stole in the Shinobi living district, I am taking the Ninja Exam tomorrow and those were your questions as Mikoto's frown increased more and more.

"How does one live in a stolen house?" asks Itami as she watches Sasuke play with a foam kunai.

"I found a house for sale in the living district, I broke in and unlocked the door before putting seals around the house and I have been meaning to put a blood seal on the lock but haven't gotten around to it just yet. I took the for sale sign out of the yard and then dug underground before opening the valves on the water and gas. I then connected wiring which led to the grid for my house into the main power grid for the area and gave my house electricity, gas, and water. I then borrowed a house worth of furnishing." he finished his summary as Itami now had a twitch.

"You just admitted to numerous crimes to the family of the Chief of police," she muttered as Naruto shrugged.

"Hiruzen said I could live there." he was soon whacked upside the head by Mikoto. He hissed in pain and rubbed the spot.

"Address Hokage-sama by his proper title." she chastised him but was not prepared for the glare he gave her.

"That man will never be my leader." his voice was so cold and devoid of life that even four-year-old Sasuke shivered in Itami's grip. The silence soon became unbearable in the room before Itami realized something.

"Wait, you said you put seals around the house, do you know fuuinjutsu?" she asked him and received a nod in return. "Is that it?" she received a head shake in return. "What else?"

"I am a puppeteer, poison user, weapons expert, learning in the healing arts, I know some ninjutsu, as well some sealing, and I know an assortment of other things but not all are for combat." by now Itami had a gleam in her eye as she looked at Naruto.

"May we spar right after I go get changed?" she asked as Naruto shrugged before standing and heading to the backyard. Itami pinched Sasuke's cheek to get his attention. "Go sit on the porch, you're going to see One-chan spar," she whispered as she dashed off to her room to change out of her sweater. Sasuke giggled as he ran for the backyard, blitzing past Naruto on his way out.

"Will you be watching as well Mikoto-oba?" he questioned the woman, gaining a large smile for him calling her Godmother but shook her head regardless.

"I am going to be making dinner, would you like some?" she asked as the boy nodded his head in thanks and then walked through the door Sasuke had left open. He was sure it would be a beautiful backyard if not for the dirt square outlined with chalk in the middle. He saw Sasuke sitting on the deck and he needed to kill time anyway, who knew how long it took girls to get ready.

He sat down next to Sasuke who seemed positively giddy a the prospect of seeing his big sister fight. "You really like your sister huh?" he questioned the little boy who nodded enthusiastically making Naruto slowly nod. He wished he had someone like that sometimes, the only person he looked up to was Sasori and considering he had never seen the man in real life he assumed that didn't really count. He was surprised to feel Itami running down the stairs and out the door before pushing him forwards and off the deck.

"Oi! Oi! I can walk myself!" he huffed as he slipped away from her grip but found he was already in the training field making him pout slightly as Itami grinned in victory. "It's just a spar why're you so excited?" the boy said as he withdrew a scroll from his right sleeve and held it in his hand, unrolled revealing the sealing matrix on it.

"The only person near my age that can challenge me is Shisui and it gets boring fighting the same fighting style over and over again." she withdrew a tanto from her back and Naruto took this time to absorb her new outfit. She now had an ANBU top on with standard-issue ANBU armor with combat boots on and she had even tied her hair up into a high ponytail.

"You either really admire the ANBU fashion or are one," he said as he popped his neck. Itami shrugged but looked at Sasuke who got the message.

"Three!" shouted his childish voice as Naruto chuckled for some reason.

"Two!" this time Itami had mirth on her face.

"One!" he shouted as Naruto unsealed the scroll's contents revealing Zenkichi in his massive glory. Sasuke actually didn't say go because he was so startled an spooked by the massive creature.

"The senbon are tipped in a paraplegic, the gas will make you unconscious, and the kunai have the lethal toxin so I'll refrain from using those," he said as he extended his arms and soon Zenkichi jerked to life and his four arms went to his sides. The forearms of the four arms opened up and soon flipped out, making the hand go inside the hollow arm and the double-bladed blades come out. "Let's dance Hime-chan!" He sang as Zenkichi darted forwards at speeds a machine of that size shouldn't possess.

Itami was forced to dodge the puppet and try and attack the exposed Naruto. As soon as she got close though he swapped places with his puppet using kawarimi making her widen her eyes in shock as she had to duck to avoid getting her head cut off. One of his other arms struck down for her but she parried the blade away and continued to do that for all of the blades and continued to parry them away as she constantly backpedaled.

She was not prepared for the tail of the puppet to suddenly erupt from the ground and wrap around her but a log quickly replaced her making Naruto scowl as Zenkichi discarded the log and darted back to protect its master from the missing Itami. "For future reference Ita-hime, I forgot to mention I'm a sensor," he called out as Zenkichi suddenly dove in a seemingly random direction and the clash of blades was heard. Soon the girl burst out of the foliage with a rather livid look on her face as she continued to parry the puppet's barrage of blades.

"Why didn't you list that with your abilities!" she yelled as she continued to block. Despite her tone and facial expression, she was having fun. No one pushed her like this and this single puppet was able to push her to such great lengths. She finally spotted a pattern in the puppet's movements and dove forward suddenly, slicing for the place where the tail started and the human body ended attempting to completely dismantle the puppet.

Her movement worked and she was able to cut right through it and now the puppet was in two. She seemed victorious but was continued when Naruto simply grinned at her. "The puppet does not have to be in one piece for me to use all of it." was all he said before Itami had to block the tail that soon came bearing down on her. She looked over and saw the top half of the puppet running at her with its bottom two hands being used as legs while it's top two held the swords, a strange sight to see.

She cursed under her breath as she dashed to the side to try and take care of the top half puppet first and went to cut off the top half of its head but was blocked by both swords which held strong against her. She scowled before jumping back and going through three hand seals. **"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"** a massive ball of fire the size of a carriage blew out of the girl's mouth and went right for the top half of his puppet, making him widen his eyes in horror on one design flaw of his puppet.

He used every single ounce of control he had to control the tail and make it dive with the top half of his puppet into the lake. Luckily it only needed one hand and he was able to tackle Itami to the ground just as it went off underwater which made a massive splurge of water shoot high into the air along with loads of shrapnel from the kunai inside of the tail flew high into the air and rained down onto the ground like mortar fire. Sasuke had luckily been out of the blast radius since the lake was so far from the house but they were not fifteen feet from it and Naruto was forced to lay above her and wait out the shrapnel raining from above.

It took about fifteen seconds before the pattering of kunai hitting the ground finally ended before Itami could sigh in relief. "Alright, I think we're good," she muttered and looked up to see Naruto's face the pure epitome of pain. He dragged his body off of her own but kept his back to the sky, showing Itami the six shards in his back, three in his right leg, one in his left arm, and luckily none had actually hit any vital parts of his neck or head.

She gasped in horror as she stared down at the bloody boy at her feet and hated the fact she knew no healing jutsu right now. "Body..." said Naruto, getting her attention as the words came out in dry rasps. "Pull..them out... Body'll heal...itself." he passed out a second later and Itami gained the same face she did every time she killed and started yanking out the shards until there was none left. She didn't know how his body would heal but boy was she in for a shock as his body was suddenly enveloped in an orange cloak which started to rapidly heal the wounds and she watched in amazement as the wounds closed up as if never there.

The orange cloak soon disappeared and all that was left was a panting Naruto who had somehow regained consciousness during the orange cloak transformation. She gaped at the steam that escaped the boy as his wounds closed like they had never been there in the first place. "What was that?" she whispered and unknown to her, a yelling match went off in the boy's head.

" **You BAKA! You didn't think of how the clan heir of a FIRE CLAN could set your bomb off?!** " the fox thundered at the pacing Naruto who scowled at the fox.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect her to abruptly shoot it with a ball of fire! I am seven, I don't have the experience of fighting people who shoot fire!" yelled the boy as the fox snarled at him.

" **Why did you even protect her! You're killing her in a few years anyway!** " the fox snarled at him as Naruto shot him a fierce glare but said nothing. " **You are doing that right?** " it questioned as he remained quiet. " **Don't tell me you think you like her?** " silence remained his answer. The fox howled before slamming his paw on the floor causing small tremors to shake the ground. " **DON'T GO SOFT ON ME! You said you would kill the Uchiha clan!** " it boomed as Naruto turned back to the fox.

"I plan on killing them just letting her and Mikoto live!" he shouted as Kurama snarled at him again.

" **Two females can still get pregnant! Then there will be more Uchiha and they will ALL hate us and try and AVENGE THEIR CLAN! KILL THEM TOO! No one will survive, do I have your word?!** " Naruto stared down at the ground in silence as the fox growled. " **THIS IS WHY I DON'T TRUST NINGEN! FINE! If you won't do it, I WILL!** " he shouted as he took advantage of the weakness of Naruto right now along with how the seal had been somewhat weakened and took control.

"Kurama don't!" the boy shouted but it was for naught as Naruto was suddenly floored by the amount of strength the Kyuubi unleashed and was forced to watch as it took over.

Itami backpedaled as she watched Naruto soon gain a tail of pure chakra, and then another, and another, and another, and then another, and one final tail. The boy howled as he crouched on all fours, his skin peeling away like flaky bread as all of the boy started disappearing, leaving a crimson bloody creature on all fours with six swinging tails behind it. She shakily withdrew her tanto as shinobi started flashing all around them, everyone and everything appeared to try and contain the wild Kyuubi.

Now, where Naruto once stood a crimson fox with six swishing tails. Its eyes were pure white orbs and it's maw had become pure white with jagged edges surrounding it to resemble teeth. She watched in muted horror as a spine came into reality, hovering over where the boy's actual spine was as an incomplete skeleton formed around Naruto. Arms of bone formed over his own crimson ones, they were fox bones though and had five claws instead of fingers and were longer than his actual arms, making the boy actually rest on those.

He also gained legs which had no feet but went to his knees to provide armor more than anything. Its ribs were incomplete and only the upper three appeared and went to the beast's chest and simply hovered over him like armor. Then it finally started gaining a skull with a long maw and snout that stuck out around a foot from the boys face and the top half of its head just sat on top of Naruto's own as two long red ears poked out through two holes in the skull.

Its face was in the gap of the maw, showing everyone the snarling visage of the fox under the bone. "Capture the Jinchuuriki!" shouted her father as close to a dozen Uchiha leaped forward, intent on containing it. It was for naught though as Kurama dashed forward and stuck its arms through two Uchiha chests and its tails batted away the others, leaving them with severe chakra burns. The remaining four were terrified beyond measure and that gave Kurama ample time to try and kill them.

Hiruzen dashed forward and got the men out of there but Kurama did not like that so he sliced at the man which he dodged only to get attacked again by the bone arm slicing off Hiruzen's own arm. Hiruzen cried out in pain but it did not last long as the Kyuubi's other arm batted the man away like he was nothing and Hiruzen crashed through Fugaku's house and disappeared into the rubble of the home. ANBU then landed all around the beast, swords out for the kill but Kyuubi batted them away as well with his tails.

It snarled before diving forward and attacking another Uchiha who actually blocked the swipe with his sword. Kyuubi did not care and attacked with its other arm, impaling the man and ripping out his heart. It stared at the heart and stared as if fascinated by it. It's musing was broken by Fugaku and three other Uchiha shooting a fireball at Kyuubi. Smoke engulfed the area as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "He got it!" shouted one Uchiha as Fugaku shook his head.

"Then why is the Killing Intent still here?" asked the man and the next second the beast came flying out, diving for the clan head and his men. The beast was simply too fast for the four and it easily killed the three no names but took it's time killing Fugaku. It stabbed the man with three tails in the gut, two in the shoulder until finally, one ran through his neck. Fugaku made a strangled choked cry as the Kyuubi lifted him into the air, suspending him in the air. A cry of pain reached him and the beast looked over to see Mikoto on her knees with Itami next to her, both crying.

"KYUUBI!" shouted a voice and the beast looked over and into the four-pointed star eyes of Shisui Uchiha. Those wretched eyes were the last he saw as the effects slowly started going away, letting Fugaku's body fall to the floor next to Naruto who's charred and blood red skin was open for the world as numerous Uchiha dived forward and roped him, and slapped chakra suppressers on him and ANBU disappeared with him all in less than three seconds.

Mikoto cried next to her husband's corpse as Itami stood to the side, crying silent tears as she looked down at the corpse.

* * *

Naruto's eyes slowly peeled open and he stared up at the dark ceiling of the prison room. He'd already argued for hours with the fox in his gut and they both had come to the conclusion, Kurama was fine with him now since he had been able to kill so many Uchiha and Naruto was fine due to him not killing Itami nor Mikoto, despite the two most likely hating him right now. It would seem they had tried to deny the power of Kurama by slapping a low-grade chakra suppression seal on his gut over the seal.

 _ **"We need to get out of here before they call back the hermit and he seals me away and blocks my power."**_ Naruto nodded as he took off the grey clothing they had put on him and looked down at the exposed seal. _**"You've been out for a day, he'll be back within the next two."**_ this gave him a good amount of time to get out of here before he arrived. He knew the seal and could easily undo it if he had ink but he sadly doesn't.

 ** _"You have blood, use that as your ink."_** the beast said as Naruto gave a grim nod and used his sharper than average canine's to tear a small gash in his right palm. He winced in pain before dipping his left index finger into it before he started drawing all over his stomach in seeming gibberish. He bit back a growl of frustration as the blood ran down his stomach, ruining the seal. He would have to lay on a flat surface. He grabbed the shirt before wiping the blood off with his shirt and laying down on the floor.

He looked back at his hand and the wound had closed. This time he narrowed his eyes in anger before repeating the previous process and drew some kanji and lines on his stomach. He had to repeat the process of cut, draw, cut draw for the next fifty minutes before he finally had the correct seal to undo the one they placed on him. Now, he simply needed to add his own chakra. An easy task if he had not had his chakra sealed along with the foxes.

He sighed before expanding his senses and discovering he could still do that, but the room was lined with a material that blocked chakra from going through which nullified things like, Sharingan, Byakugan, and sensing. He let out a pulse of chakra through his tongue for the sensing and that was enough for him to use to unlock the seal and soon his chakra was flowing again.

" _ **Well done kit.**_ " Naruto nodded in appreciation. " _ **Now, put back on your shirt and we simply wait for them to open the door and attack!**_ " Kurama was right, they would have to open the door to feed him and once that happened he could escape. They would underestimate him due to his size and lack of chakra, little do they know. This room was made terribly, it had no entrance or exit other than the door and no window or hole to watch him with, no camera or anything.

There was a lightbulb on the ceiling which was covered by some plastic so he wouldn't use the glass of the bulb to attack with. Naruto meditated and simply sat there on the bed as he thought about what they could do. The plan he and the fox had made while he was unconscious was they were going to escape, the fox would teach him what he knew once they were in hiding, then they would search for Sasori and resume the previous plan there.

As soon as that door opened the plan was for Kurama encase Naruto in chakra before the boy ran forward and would, in theory, be able to kill the man who opened the door. They would then dash back to Naruto's house, grab the scrolls Minato left him before Kyuubi took control and would use the power of six tails again and the speed before running as fast and far as possible. In theory, it would work just like the killing of the man opening the door but it was unknown if it would fully work.

Naruto sat there for the next few hours with nothing to do but meditate and refine his plans for escape. He was taken from the thoughts by multiple clicks and sounds from the door that was in the far right corner of the room, ten feet from the bed. Naruto soon had a single tail of Kyuubi chakra and dashed forward before the man could react and his elongated nails and painful chakra made it easy as butter to tear through the man's skull.

Naruto snapped his head to the right as he sensed an ANBU there and the man was probably terrified, sadly he couldn't see through the mask but it didn't matter as he ran forward and another tail joined the one and he sliced off the man's head. Naruto exhaled before sensing and discovering he was underground. The cloak receded as Naruto changed the plan slightly due to him being underground and hastily threw on the armor the ANBU had along with the mask before using the henge to further solidify the fact he was an ANBU.

He suppressed his chakra as much as possible as he started running down the hall to the stairs and started running up. He soon reached the main floor after climbing three flights of stairs and slowed his running down to a casual walk as he walked down the halls, past the other ANBU who disregarded him as no one and went about with their day.

He sighed in relief as he left the building and dashed across the rooftops to his house. Most would be confused to see an ANBU dashing around at Chunnin speeds but most thought nothing of it thankfully as Naruto made it to his destination. He entered the building and made his way to the basement, grabbing his scrolls and putting them in his new ANBU pockets. He wasn't going to grab his clothes, people knew he wore those and would only attract attention.

He undid the henge and took off the mask as he sealed his puppet parts and all other kinds of essentials before turning around and seeing Itami there at the bottom of the stairs, Sharingan eyes staring right into his with sadness in her eyes. This, This was an uncalculated part of the plan and without his puppets, he was borderline defenseless. He turned back around and went back to sealing things, picking up a vial of paraplegic poison as he did so and held it in his hand.

"Figured you would be grieving, seems I didn't get a grip on your character as well as I thought I had," he said as he finished his sealing by taking the actual workbench as well and turning around to face her but she stayed standing, hand hovering over her kunai pouch. He shrugged before returning to his sealing as he did the final thing which was the bucket of weapons that went into the puppets and sealed them into a separate scroll, ignoring the person at his stairs.

"You don't know anything about me." whispered the girl and if it weren't for them being underground in a closed off room he wouldn't have heard her. He stood before stretching and turning around to face the girl. "Why!" she finally burst and Naruto would admit. She looked like shit right now.

Her eyes were red from crying and they were also bloodshot, bags under them from not sleeping for the past twenty hours or so that had passed. Her hair did not look neat and instead was messy and tangled, falling over her shoulders and back. The girl that had seemed made of stone, had cracked slightly from under the pressure. He raised an eyebrow to her question as he stood there, not moving.

"Why do you seem fine! Doesn't it bother you that you're the reason those people are dead!" she yelled as she threw up her arms in anger and sadness as fresh tears started leaking down her porcelain skin.

"I have come to terms with the fact that I could not have stopped the fox if I had wanted to and have spent the past five hours thinking over their deaths." He made a move to walk forward but Itami pulled out a kunai, stopping him in his tracks.

"What do you mean 'If I had wanted to'?" Naruto smirked at the intelligence she had, maybe in a perfect world, they would have been able to be together, maybe in a perfect world.

"Caught that did you? I had planned on killing the whole Uchiha clan along with the Hyuuga clan." he watched the horror on her face expand as her eyes widened at the shock of him admitting that. He shrugged and took another step towards her. "That explosion kind of ruined my plans though. I got a few Uchiha anyway so I'm not too upset, neither is the fox. Hey, do you know what happened to Sarutobi? The chakra burn from that tail should have put him in a coma but I can't exactly go check." he enquired from the girl as he took another step.

Itami looked away and a tear fell onto the cold stone floor as the rivers of tears dripped from her eyes and down her chin, dropping to the floor. "Hokage-sama died of his wounds nine hours ago," she whispered and Naruto nodded as if he had expected that answer. He took another step and now was almost touching her from the distance.

"Thanks for the information Ita-hime," he whispered as she growled and swung the kunai for his head. Naruto barely caught her wrist in time, stopping the shaking kunai an inch from his temple. "I thought we were close Hime?" he asked as her face settled for a grimace. Naruto's grip was slowly slipping due to her physical training so he popped the cork off the vial of poison in his other hand and poured it on her neck, watching as the pores absorbed it.

He dashed back as the poison took effect, watching as her limbs suddenly stiffened a few seconds later and she now stood there, frozen kunai in hand as if a statue. "Paraplegic," he said but got no reaction. "Sorry about this hime but can't have you killing me, I have things to do in life," he walked right up to her, his breath touching her skin. "I had actually thought of not killing the Uchiha after I met you. I somehow developed feelings for you and I would have liked to act on them but the fox in my gut took control and killed those people.

"So now, you probably hate me because your father died. Ironic isn't it? The fox took control because I had feelings for you and because of that you gained a different kind of feeling for me. Maybe in a better, different world, it could have happened." a grim smile came over his face and he cupped her cheek. "Well, time to go become a missing-nin huh?" he asked rhetorically as he pried the kunai from her fingers and held it while with some strength before he cut the headband on his arm with more difficulty than he thought it would take and slashed a line through the symbol.

"Hm," he suddenly took the headband and placed it loosely around his neck. "There! Now I proudly show it!" he shouted with fake happiness as he turned to her. "I truly am sorry about your father. Give Mikoto-oba my best will you?" he asked as he patted her cheek again and walked up the stairs before stepping outside. "Okay Kurama, now," he said and soon six tails of chakra was behind him and before people could even react, was off like a bullet.

* * *

Itami collapsed to the floor, panting as the poison's effects wore off, tears poured out of her eyes as she continued repeating his words in her head.

 _"The fox took control because I had feelings for you... I truly am sorry about your father."_ She shook her head in denial, he didn't care he just said that to mess with her. But if that was true then that raised a question.

Why didn't he kill her?

She shook the thought away as she slowly got up, already knowing he was gone because of feeling the chakra burst from before. She shunshin'd to her house and walked up the stairs of the empty house. Her mother had taken Sasuke with her to the Police District to collect her father's things. She shuddered as she undressed and went to the shower, turning the water ice cold before stepping in and standing under it. She wanted the warmth in her cheek he had touched to go away...

Meanwhile, Naruto sat under a tree, the light from the campfire being the only brightness around as he stared into the fire. He doesn't know why he had told her that, maybe for closure? Maybe to give himself a reason not to be guilty? To try an repent for his sins by telling her the truth?

 _ **"Stop being a whiny little bitch and stop burning the rabbit."**_ the fox's gruff voice spoke in his head as he sighed before lifting the stick the rabbit was on from the fire. He grabbed it and started chewing the cooked meat, glad Kurama had grabbed the rabbit on the way here. _**"You're welcome,"**_ he said as Naruto rolled his eyes before taking another bite and staring down at the loose cloth hanging from his neck. Before he could even feel bad about leaving and question it, bushes rustled behind him.

He lunged forward as his senses revealed someone with almost as much chakra as him, a rare accomplishment most would never achieve. A blue-haired, blue-skinned man came out, a sharp toothy grin on his face. "Hey there Gaki, smelled the rabbit and came running." his beady eyes found his headband and his grin widened. "Oh? Missing-gaki playing Missing-Nin? Funny, now why would you be a Missing-Nin?" Naruto mentally cursed, Hoshigaki Kisame.

 _"Where are we fox?"_ his answer was a growl.

 ** _"Somewhere with trees and Kiri missing-nin, Kiri maybe,"_** it grumbled as Naruto cut the mental connection.

"You will not believe me," he said as Kisame raised a thin eyebrow.

"Try me," he said as Naruto shrugged.

"I killed twelve Uchiha, Seven ANBU, the Uchiha Clan Head, and the Sandaime Hokage." Kisame actually blinked at that one and didn't say anything for a moment. "Told you-you would not believe me." the boy said as he sat back down and resumed eating.

"That's pretty unbelievable, got any proof?" the man asked as Naruto shrugged.

"It will most likely be in the BINGO books within a week, check them then." He said around a mouthful of the rabbit. Kisame chuckled as he sat down where Naruto used to be.

"So what are ya?" he received a raised eyebrow in response. "What do ya do, Imma sword guy, what're you?" he asked as rested his elbows on his knees.

"Puppeteer," the boy replied as Kisame started chuckling.

"Puppeteer brat killed the Hokage ain't that a laugh. You know who I am?" asked the man as Naruto nodded. "I'd usually be shocked but you've got some pretty shocking things 'bout you. If you know who I am, then you know that puppeteers are at a disadvantage against swordsmen, meaning I could kill you right now and you couldn't do anything." the man said as Naruto continued eating.

"My puppets are destroyed anyway, the sword eats chakra, I am practically defenseless against you." he lied as Kisame nodded. Most would be defenseless in this situation due to lack of beast in them but Kurama could get them out of there with his speed, not that Kisame knew he was a Jinchuuriki.

"How the hell does a Konoha brat learn a Suna art anyway?" the man seemingly asked a random question as Naruto took another bite of his rabbit.

"Sandaime took me to Suna, I learned under Chiyo-baa for a year and became a puppeteer amongst other things." the boy answered the question as he continued chewing. Kisame nodded as he grabbed a stick and prodded the fire, shifting around the wood to keep it burning.

"Tell you what kid," Naruto looked up at the blue man in curiosity. "We wait till that BINGO book comes out. If what you say is true, then I keep you alive and teach you kenjutsu." the man said as Naruto frowned in suspicion.

"What's in it for me?" the boy replied as Kisame smirked.

"You have to stick with me." the man answered as Naruto rose a brow in questioning. "I have a friend who's got a little partner always watching their back. The little guy heals him if he's hurt, gets info for him, and it's always better to have numbers. You'd be like that, I teach you Kenjutsu and we stick together for the future." the man reached a hand over the shoulder as Naruto eyed it cautiously. "And, if you feel you don't wanna be with me forever, you can try and kill me in a fight." the man said as Naruto snapped his eyes to his. "But it's gotta be a straight fight, none of that stab me in my sleep shit." the man said as Naruto discussed with Kurama.

 ** _"There are worse outcomes, we get a teacher to handle your close quarter's problem and someone to watch our back and keep us protected from the Hunter Nin. Besides, this guy's been at this for awhile we could learn things from him, and he even said we can try and kill him and that means we get his sword if we win."_** the fox reasoned as Naruto mentally nodded.

He put out his hand to shake Kisame's. "Naruto Namikaze." the boy said as Kisame raised a brow.

"Ain't that the same name as Konoha's yondaime?" asked the blue man as Naruto shook his head.

"Same last name, I'm his son." the boy elaborated as both of Kisame's eyebrows rose. The man then was bent over, laughing to his heart's content as Naruto almost gained a tick mark on his forehead. "Something funny?" asked the boy as Kisame finally stood up, wiping an actual tear from his eye.

"I just thought it's funny the man did so much for Konoha then he croaks saving it and his son kills the next Hokage and leaves the place. Irony's pretty fucking funny ain't it?" asked the man as Naruto quirked his mouth to the side. His father had said he would always be proud of him no matter what but what would he think of Naruto now? When he met his mother would she love him or hate him? As much as those two questions tore him up he didn't show it and returned to sitting as he ate his rabbit.

"Got any more of that or am I gonna have to get my own?" asked the man as Naruto chucked the man what was left of his own rabbit, he wasn't hungry anymore anyway. "Thanks." the man said as he used his sharpened teeth to chew the rabbit apart.

"So, where are we going to get you a new BINGO book?" asked the boy as he put his hands behind his head and leaned against the tree. Despite his rather savage appearance, Kisame seemed rather trustable and honorable. The man shrugged his shoulders before tossing the bones of the rabbit over his shoulder and into the bushes behind him.

"Some nearby town I guess. You really are a unique gaki aren't ya? Falling asleep right next to an S-rank Missing-Nin." the man stated with suspicion as Naruto shrugged.

"If what I said was true then I'm an S-rank Missing-Nin too. In the morning are we going to head for the village, get the BINGO book and head back into the forest or what's the plan, Senior Missing-Nin?" asked the boy as Kisame grinned savagely.

"We're gonna get you a sword then I'm gonna beat you into shape so we can have a fun fight." the man said and it slightly unnerved Naruto how he knew the man would keep his word.

* * *

Kisame bore down on Naruto's practice sword with his own, his bright toothy grin contrasting with Naruto's scowl of determination. Today marked the seventh day the two had met and it had been interesting, to say the least, Naruto learning kenjutsu from the man which was really just him being attacked constantly and trying to block. It did teach him though, it taught him how to be able to fight against a swordsman, it also taught him how to block at the very least.

Kisame pulled his sword back before swinging again, this time for Naruto's side as the boy laid the sword against the side he swung for, blade pointing to Kisame when it blocked the hit he was able to actually maintain the block with his body. Luckily Kisame was using a standard training sword he had bought as well due to Naruto not being ready to fight Samehada. Kisame suddenly lurched forward and headbutt Naruto causing the young boy to stagger back as he held his head in pain due to the cold steel of Kisame's headband hitting his bare skin.

"I still say you need to put that headband on your forehead." the man chastised as he chucked his sword at the floor for Naruto to seal which the boy did a few minutes later after nursing his head. Naruto sealed both practice swords inside the scroll before standing and falling into-step with Kisame scowling as he did so.

"Did you have to cheat?" asked the boy bitterly as the man grinned again before slapping the boy upside the back of the head. The boy hissed as he rubbed the back of his head gingerly.

"It's bad enough I have to use such a shit blade against you, the headbutt wasn't cheating. Also, think of it as inspiration for you to wear it on your forehead, for all the smarts you got you sure don't think very well." Naruto scowled and mumbled something under his breath before untying it from his arm and putting it around his head and tied it, shotting the grinning Kisame a nasty glare as he did so.

"Happy?" the man shrugged as they walked, making Naruto scowl. "Teme." the boy muttered as a village in Kiri came into view. Naruto took a scroll from his pockets and looked at the brown dot on it before unsealing it and taking out two cloaks, one longer than the other as he handed the long one to Kisame and kept the other for himself. He put back the scroll before putting on the cloak as Kisame did and the black hood came over his head as he buttoned up the cloak, covering everything but his ankles and feet from view.

"Time to figure out if you're a liar or a threat gaki." murmured Kisame as the two walked into the village and saw a carrier ninja hand the bookstore owner a scroll, presumably the new BINGO books and the man dashed off while the bookstore owner went into his shop. Kisame jerked his head in that direction while Naruto took out some money from another pocket and the two entered the store, making the man turn, scroll of books in hand.

"Ah, I'll be with you in a moment." he turned back around but Naruto stopped him.

"We just wish to purchase a BINGO book, owner-san." the boy asked as the man seemingly jolted in place.

"What a coincidence. You know, this guy just gave me a new issue! Apparently, someone made S-rank, scary how some of you ninja folk can get so strong yeah?" asked the man as Naruto let a deceiving smile come to his face.

"Scary indeed." the boy said as the man unsealed the scroll on his checkout table, a bundle of the books appearing out of nowhere as the man smiled.

"So cool how you can put all these things in a simple scroll, I'd make so much ryo just making these things!" the man shouted in exuberance as Naruto sighed. The boy walked forward before grabbing the man by the back of the head and bashing his face into the counter repeatedly, angry with the man for some reason. The boy continued to bash until he lifted the man's head and his nose had literally flattened to the side and his eyes and limbs were flat, showing his lack of life.

Naruto threw the man back as he grabbed a book and flipped through it all the way to the S-rank tab and soon went from page to page all the way to the N's. He humphed in triumph before handing the book to Kisame. The man read it briefly and soon smirked in satisfaction. Kisame read for a little longer before snapping his eyes to Naruto's retreating back. "Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko? Why didn't you tell me?" the man questioned as Naruto stopped in is movements.

"Why is it because you feel cheated on Kisame?" asked the boy as the shark-man grinned.

"No, I'm pissed cuz you weren't using its power in spars!" the man shouted as Naruto shook his head in a mixture of disbelief in amusement. "I'm called the tailless tailed-beast! I wanna fight a real one!" the man shouted again as he chucked the book back against the dead store owner and joined Naruto as they left the village.

 ** _"I like him!"_** Kurama boomed in joy as Naruto rolled his eyes, of course, the fox likes the shark.

"He says he likes you," Naruto tells the man as Kisame lets a savage grin come over his face.

"Let's get you a real sword, Heru Faia no Kitsune." the man said as Naruto smirked at his BINGO Book name,

Kitsune of Hellfire had a good ring to it.

* * *

 **My longest chapter to date, it covered so much ground and told us who was going to teach Naruto. I like Kisame's character it is so funny and cool and he isn't written about too often. Naruto is going to remain a puppeteer but he is going to be able to deal with enemies who charge him up close with his sword. Sarutobi dead, Fugaku dead, and Shisui revealed Mangekyou in public, wonder the repercussions?**

 **Also, if you believe the six-tails was unbelievable with the ability to kill those people, I would like to mention that four-tails were enough to deal with Orochimaru. Orochimaru dealt with Sarutobi along with Edo Tensei Hashirama and Tobirama. The fifth tail substitutes for the Hashirama and Tobirama and the sixth is just for good measure. So, it was entirely reasonable since six was enough to deal with Deva path for so long.**

 **Anyway, a long chapter which showed us the future of this fic and female Itachi. Female Itachi... Unique and can be the perfect match for Naruto's character, who knows how that'll turn out?**

 **Ezeakel: I changed the ages and that is my call, I am glad you gave the constructive criticsm but the age play makes it more unique. Also the Sasori behavior thing is true, I did that on purpose so that while Naruto is under the training of Kisame those two personalities would mesh for him. He has Gaara who he calls brother, Chiyo who he calls Grandma, Temari and Kankuro who are friends, Ayame and Teuchi Ichiraku, and cares for Mikoto and Itami, he does have friends and people he loves so I don't understand that part of your review. Kurama wanted him to kill the Uchiha and they added Hyuuga to the list to potentially gain SS-rank for taking out both Doujutsu's of the world, hence why he chose to destroy both of those clans it explained itself in the chapter... Thank you for the review.**

 **This was a thirteen thousand word chapter that I hope you all enjoyed, if you feel I am rushing things don't worry. The next two or three chapters will be pretty slow no timeskips or nothin' :D**

 **I am literally only adding these words because I was at 12, 990 and wanted 13k :D**


	5. The Return

Naruto panted as he let his hand fall limp, letting his heavy sword lay on the ground while he held the handle. Kisame's logic in getting Naruto's sword was that if he was ever going to defeat him and take Samehada, he would have to be used to large weapons that would not slice but shave. So, the man had gotten Naruto a massive double-edged broadsword, the weapon was six feet long and two feet taller than the boy himself. It was serrated on the sides with no actual slicing part on the sword beside the tip.

The sword truly was gargantuan, one-foot-wide blade with no guard, pure steel with an iron grip with leather bound around it to give Naruto little comfort while gripping it. The boy had only gotten the sword the previous day, also the day Kisame had confirmed Naruto's feats in the BINGO book. The shark-man knew Naruto was not able to wield the sword at all so he had given Naruto the week to basically swing it at trees and hold it upright, making the days very tiring for the boy.

Naruto had only been at it for the past twenty minutes and his arms already ached in pain from trying to swing the sword. His back hurt from constantly lifting the massive sixty-pound weapon and his arms were so strained they felt as if they would burst. "Oi! I didn't say you'd stop!" Kisame said from his position at their campfire, watching the boy as he munched on some kind of fish.

"I'm tired you teme!" yelled Naruto as he simply let the sword go. Kisame looked up from his food with no grin this time. He sighed and shook his head before standing and walking over to the dropped sword and Naruto. He picked up the weapon and put it in Naruto's hands and held both boy's hands and the sword with one hand while his other went to his back pouch and pulled out some of the same white bindings he used for Samehada. He bound the boy's hands to the weapon and nodded before going back to his food at his position, watching Naruto struggle to keep the blade off the ground.

"If you get too tired you're simply going to start lifting the sword in a bench press till' you can hold it up." the man said around some cooked fish, ignoring the fierce glare the seven-year-old. "You've got a fox with the strength of over a thousand men in you, why not just borrow somma his strength?" The man chucked the fish bones away and sat down, watching Naruto scowl at him before turning around and facing the tree.

 _"Could we do that Kurama?"_ asked the boy as the millennia-old Bijuu made a humming noise.

 ** _"Maybe, never tried it but I could send some of my chakra into your arms to try and strengthen them."_** the fox replied and a few seconds later Naruto's arms started feeling much better, as well as stiffer as if they had gotten more muscle. The boy tried to swing the sword and swung it with a small bit more speed than he started with. The sword hit the tree with a dull thunk before Naruto ripped the sword in his direction, ripping up bark as he did so.

It didn't strain him as much as it had before and the cut had been easier as well, not as much resistance due to the extra force he was able to apply. He then repeated the action on the opposite side of the tree and was treated with the same result as the previous swing. "Told ya I'm not just a pretty face." said the man behind him and Naruto shot the grinning man a withering glare before returning to his training, not confirming nor denying what Kisame had said.

Naruto deeply exhaled before swinging with all of his strength on the right side of the tree and dragging it back towards him. He grinned despite the pain his forearms at the seven-inch deep shave sawing cut he had left in the tree. "Kisame," the boy said in between pants as he let his sword dangle towards the ground, the white wrapping being the only thing keeping it in his grip at the moment. "I want to try and block your swing," he said as Kisame let his normal psychotic grin come to his face. Kisame grabbed Samehada before walking forward with the same grin.

"Your funeral gaki," he said before swinging down as Naruto raised his sword to block but the sheer strength of Kisame's swing sent him rocketing back, his double-edged blade dug into his chest as he impacted with the bark of the tree he had just swung on. Naruto spat out some saliva as the wind got knocked out of his lungs from the impact. Kisame sighed as Naruto failed to hold up a defense against him, he then reached forward and ripped the sword from the boy's chest drawing a pained cry from him.

Kisame then undid the bindings on his hands and let Naruto drop the sword as the boy sat against the tree, running a medical palm over his chest as he slowly healed the slight cut. Four minutes later Naruto was sitting against the bark, tired from the physical training and the focus he had to apply to use the medical jutsu. Kisame stared down at the boy while he stood over him, his usual grin nowhere in sight as he stared at the seven-year-old.

"I probably wouldn't be too tough on you if I didn't know two things, You're S-ranked, and you got the most powerful demon in your gut. Now, bench press the sword." the man said as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shoved him to the ground before handing the scowling boy the sword. Naruto locked one hand around the hand and put the other on the flat of the blade before he started shakily lifting it up and down above his prone body, never letting it touch him as he did so.

After close to the fifth press Naruto stopped and simply held it straight up and Kisame grinned above him. "Seems you need inspiration." warned the man as he put his foot on the blade and slowly applied force, making the sword approach Naruto's chest and when it seemed like it would touch Kisame lifted his foot, still resting it on the blade as Naruto pushed it up with no small amount of effort.

Three hours later Naruto was sweating as he laid down on the grassy floor of the forest and gulped in deep long breaths. He had gotten somewhere near eighty of the bench presses before his arms simply gave out, now the torn muscles were repairing themselves and Kisame was... Naruto then realized he didn't know what the man was doing and tilted his head slightly to see the man discussing with a shark head that was poking out of the lake they had camped near.

Naruto blinked hard at that as he realized it must be a summon. It actually made a lot of sense that Kisame had a shark summon. He sadly knew next to nothing about summons other than the fact they could speak and were rather intelligent. Jiraiya the Gama Sennin held the Toad contract, Tsunade held the Slug, and Orochimaru the Snake. Apparently, Kisame held a shark contract, who woulda known. The shark suddenly looked at him with its dark void-like eyes and Naruto actually felt a small amount of fear staring into those eyes.

Kisame then turned to Naruto and looked at him for a brief moment before returning to the shark and continuing their discussion the shark never stopped staring though, it just kept staring right into his eyes as if judging him and Naruto didn't know what to do. He gave a brief nod to the shark, not knowing what to do in regards to a summon. Surprisingly the shark nodded back before turning to Kisame and said something before diving under the water.

Kisame stood from his crouched position and walked over to Naruto, a feral grin on his face as Naruto kept staring at him in wonder. "Am I that awesome?" asked the man as his pointed teeth glinted in the sun, making Naruto scoff before turning his head away from the man and staring at the sky above them. "We did a good amount of training with the sword today and since your almost dead, why don't you train in controlling the foxes power?" Naruto gave the man a curious look at his words.

"I know you two are like companions and shit but if you learn how to use his power you could get cool powers and massive boosts in chakra and power. Imagine the strength you could have with a sword!" the man seemed ecstatic at the prospect and Naruto had to hand it to him, it wasn't a half bad idea. It would mean more chakra which could make it harder for his puppeteering but he could just practice his chakra control to get it back to what it is now.

"Okay," the boy started as he sat up. "How do I do this?" he asked as Kisame gave him a flat look.

"How the fuck should I know? I ain't-a Jinchuuriki, ask the fox." the man said as he took a few steps back and Naruto nodded before opening the mental connection between him and Kurama.

" _I'm all ears Kurama_." thought the boy and he heard a grumbling from inside him.

 ** _"I don't know how to do this either! I've never had a Jinchuuriki I like, so this has never been a thing. Maybe, try burning all of your own chakra that way mine can fill your reserves?"_** the fox questioned its jailor and it was an idea at the very least. The problem was the amount of chakra Naruto had made it difficult to run out. Maybe if he could convince Kisame to teach him a jutsu that he could burn his reserves with.

"He says I should empty my reserves that way his chakra can fill them, do you have any jutsu I can use?" asked the boy as Kisame's pointed and sharp grin became positively feral. Kisame started walking to the lake, Naruto following him as they stood next to the large body of water. Kisame made a hand seal and clones appeared on the surface of the water, water clones to be specific.

"Mizu Bunshin, good jutsu to help ya fight. One hand seal, tiger. Make as many as ya can kid." said the man as Naruto quirked his mouth to one side slightly before making the seal and focusing his chakra, praying he had a good water affinity.

 **"Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no jutsu!"** the boy cried as ten clones of him were made on the water, leaving him panting slightly as Kisame raised a brow in confusion. Most couldn't get it that well on the first try especially not kids as young as Naruto. Most didn't kill a Kage at that age either though. The ten water clones just stared at Naruto and Kisame in confusion of their existence since there was no battle or spar going on.

"You empty yet?" asked the man as Naruto shook his head in the negative, still panting slightly from the first use of a water jutsu. "Well, what are ya waiting for then? Make more gaki." the man ordered as his clones popped into splashes of water that joined the lake. "Don't dispel your clones, they'll just give you your chakra back then we'll be back at square one."

* * *

While Naruto was learning techniques to keep him alive, Itami was doing something to make sure he didn't stay alive. She was training in any-and-all techniques that would be effective against Naruto and his puppets. She had been learning more and more Katon jutsu from the Uchiha library so she could burn his puppets, she had been practicing her kenjutsu to the point it was almost on par with Yugao. She'd been practically drilling herself into the ground with her training, her mother was grieving by taking care of Sasuke and she was grieving through training.

She'd become more of an Ice princess than she used to be, a feat that was rather unbelievable if you met her before. Now, she wouldn't say anything if a fanboy asked her out, she would be cold and rude to just about anyone she didn't know and she didn't even hang out with her ANBU squad, she simply went to them for missions. No one could blame her though because when an S-rank missing-nin kills your father and rubs your cheek most get rather angry and wish to kill said missing-nin.

Itami didn't want to kill him though, she wanted to bring him back to Konoha and make him answer for his crimes not attack him out of some petty rage. She still didn't know why the thought of killing him made her stomach hurt, nor why she dreamt about him. The dreams were usually nothing, sometimes they were just memories of him telling her what he had in the basement of his house. He says he was sorry for killing her father, and that he liked her.

Some part of her mind rationalized that he only said that to confuse and trick her, but another part said he was telling the truth. The part that made her particularly was that her Sharingan had told her he was telling her the truth! He really did like her, he did plan on massacring the Uchiha and Hyuuga, and he did feel sorry for killing her father! She put even more chakra into the next fireball she cast unconsciously, anger overwhelming her as well as frustration.

He didn't care that the Hokage had died, but he cared that her father had died. It made no sense because she had found out the Sandaime had cared for Naruto since he was young if anything Naruto should have regrets for killing the Sandaime, not her father. Currently, Konoha was without a Kage, Jiraiya-sama was supposedly searching for a replacement as well as searching for Naruto while he was at it. She hoped he returned with the next Kage soon because the village was getting tense.

Without a Kage, the whole village was very vulnerable and everyone was sleeping with their kunai, expecting Iwa to come knocking down their gate any moment. They were still recovering from the Kyuubi attack as well as the loss of an Uchiha clan head. That single thought soured her mood, the clan wanted her to take the seat. She understood that as the heir it was her duty but she was not old enough nor responsible enough to take control of the whole clan.

She also had her ANBU duties as well as her Konoha shinobi duties, she couldn't just drop all of that and become clan head. She was sure there was someone that could be a filler for the seat for the next ten or so years until she was old enough to take over. Right now her mind was not set on becoming Clan head. It was set on finding Naruto and protecting her otouto and that was it. She panted heavily from the chakra exhaustion as she shunshin'd away to go spar with Yugao, ignoring her exhaustion for the purpose of getting stronger.

Elsewhere four beings were plotting. "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is now out in the open, it is no longer under the defense of a village and we could make a grab for it." the only woman there spoke as two of the men shook their heads in the negative.

"If he was able to channel its chakra and kill the Hokage as well as several Uchiha then he has become powerful with it. We will save the Kyuubi for last, it is final in the sealing so there is no reason to take it now. We do need to gain more members, however. Kakuzu, Orochimaru, Jozu, and Sasori will not be enough. If the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is strong enough we could recruit it, the previous Kyuubi Jinchuuriki survived the unsealing. Since both she and him were Uzumaki I think it should work the same way." the masked man said as the creature next to them spoke.

"The Jinchuuriki is **traveling** with Kisame Hoshigaki. We could recruit **the both of** them at once and gain a partner duo for the **Akatsuki. The** boy is also said to be a puppeteer, meeting Sasori **could** probably convince him." the plant hybrid said as the other three nodded.

"I will send Sasori and Orochimaru to recruit them." said the purple-eyed man as they all nodded before one sank to the floor, one dispersed in pieces of paper, one warped out, and the other simply shunshin'd away. The purple-eyed man arrived in the Headquarters of Akatsuki, deciding to tell the two as soon as possible.

He made his way to the shared room and found the two both doing something. One was working on his puppet shell, and the other was working on a seal of some sort.

"Orochimaru, Sasori you have a mission." This got both's attention as they turned to the man. "You are to go recruit Kisame Hoshigaki and Naruto Namikaze to the Akatsuki. Failure is not an option." said the man before leaving the room as the two occupants turned to themselves.

"The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki hmm?" asked the Sannin as his extraordinarily long tongue came out and licked his upper lip. A true Uzumaki would be an amazing specimen for him to have in experiments, due to him being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki he would even be able to regenerate after being experimented on.

"I am interested in the boy for his puppeteer and poisoner talents. He escaped due to putting a paralysis poison on the Uchiha watching him. It is also said he was taught by Chiyo-baa. Do you hold no hatred against him for killing your sensei?" asked the red-haired man as he entered his puppet, draping the cloak over it as he did so. Orochimaru stood, sealing his works in a scroll and throwing on his own cloak.

"I am annoyed that he had stolen that right from me, yes, but the old fool is dead that is the important matter." said the Sannin as the two walked to the massive door of the Akatsuki HeadQuarters in Ame. The puppet next to him grunted in either though or acknowledgment. The two then soon set out in search of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki that could be anywhere in the Elemental Nations.

* * *

Kisame and Naruto were walking through the forest, traveling cloaks in place as they did so while walking to Konoha. "Remind me again why I agreed to this shit plan?" asked the blue-skinned man as Naruto shrugged. They'd been training and moving for a good two weeks now and they had made progress and also little progress. Naruto had gotten far in Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu, his sword abilities about low chunnin level now and he could actually wield his sword.

"I need new puppets, Konoha has the exact things I need to make those. You said you wish to fight me when I am at my full capacity, without my puppets I am nowhere near that. Do I need to rerun the plan with you Kisame?" asked the boy, he sounded exasperated but Kisame just snorted in regard to the question.

"Why would you become a missing-nin of Konoha just to come back in like a month?" the shark-man asked as Naruto scowled.

"I did not plan on moving my plans forward by years, shit happened. You're going to either kill or knock out the gate guard, then we slip in. My plan shall take me close to a day, I will take you to my house in the case you wish to stay there. I am going to be sneaking around and there will be little-to-no combat so I do not believe you would enjoy accompanying me on my objective." the boy said as the man raised a brow.

"And what exactly is your objective?" asked the swordsman as Naruto shrugged.

"If my plan goes correctly I am going to turn the Sandaime, Nidaime, and Shodaime Hokage's into puppets. That is if the plan goes correctly." the boy said as Kisame's wide beady eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. The ability to use Senju Hashiram's Mokuton and the Nidaime's supreme water affinity would be very powerful. The Sandaime Hokage was also a strong man, his fact of maintaining the Hokage role for over sixty years was a testament to that fact.

"You sure do dream big huh Gaki?" asked the man as the two approached the gate, their bodies covered in robes and hoods. Naruto wore a black leather trenchcoat with a hood on it, obscuring his form from almost all while Kisame did something similar but with a dark blue coat instead while Naruto had left his closed Kisame had his own buttoned shut. They reached the gate and when they tried to pass the two guards came in front of them, blocking their passage.

"Names and ID's." the man ordered as Kisame reached his hand around and grabbed his bound weapon before hitting both Chunnin in the head with the sword hard. It either knocked them out or killed them, Naruto did not know nor care. Kisame returned the weapon to his back as the two progressed into Konohagakure, noticing how the people they passed seemed happy but tense. Without a Hokage, the village was bound to be tense due to fear of attack with them being so vulnerable.

Naruto quirked his head to the right slightly as he saw Jiraiya of the Sannin and Tsunade of the Sannin walking down the road, a medium height black-haired woman following behind them with a pig in her hands. **(1)** The group was about fifty paces behind them and there was a small crowd between them but it did not matter, he could sense the Female Sannin from this far, her chakra was a rage of anger and annoyance. Jiraiya's own was more discreet but it was on a similar level to Tsunade's own. Both Kisame and Naruto continued walking down the road, a slow pace as they did so as the two Sannin stomped down the road.

She acted like a five-year-old girl, not the last remaining Senju. Soon the Sannin were right behind the two of them and Naruto could feel Tsunade's glare burn holes in the back of his head, his house was coming up in a block so there was no point in going on a different path. It would seem Kisame wanted to test his fighting limits based on how his hand twitched to reach for his sword. "Move." the female Sannin said as the two Nuke Nin stopped fully.

She was already annoyed because the gate guards were knocked out, showing that they had been infiltrated but no one knew who or when. The two in front of her was not helping her annoyance at the fact. "I said move!" the woman said as she reached for Kisame's cloaked shoulder to move him but Naruto's hand shot out, gripping her own to keep her from touching Kisame. He let go of the hand as he felt her channeling her chakra to her fists. He stepped to the side as Kisame did the same, the two of them facing the Sannin as the two passed them.

Tsunade went to glare at the shorter person on her side but met gaze that was the same color as ice itself, a gaze so cold and dead that it actually sent a small shiver down her spine. She'd met fierce when she fought Hanzo, She'd met crazy when Orochimaru went off the chain, she'd never met just a dead gaze though. Naruto had such a cold look in his eyes as he stared up at the sole Senju that it somewhat scared her to see someone so young with such a look.

The only person she'd seen with a gaze like that had been her great-uncle Tobirama, he had just a level and cold gaze. This boy had something similar, it made one wonder what someone would have to go through to gain a look like that. The difference between this boy and her great uncle was the eye color, her great-uncle's warm brown and this boy's cold ice. She turned her gaze away, not wanting to look into his eyes any longer.

The three passed them as Kisame and Naruto returned to walking down the street behind them as the three stomped down the street all the way to the Hokage tower, it would seem the first female Kage had been chosen. It made sense in some ways and didn't in others. It made sense in the fact that she was probably a more reasonable choice than Jiraiya who had to be maintaining Konoha's spy network as well as searching for he himself.

It didn't make sense in the fact the woman had literally left Konoha for decades due to personal problems, similar to a spoiled brat. That's how Naruto saw her in his mind. She didn't know how to deal with anything so she just ran around drinking and gambling away her problems, the Sandaime had not even done anything about it either and had allowed her to act like a spoiled princess. She had emptied the vast Senju vaults, tarnished the legendary name, and still was offered the role of Hokage despite these flaws.

He was broken from his thoughts as the two S-rank nins reached his house. Naruto expanded his senses and discovered something in the backyard, something that made him pause as his hand hovered above the handle of the door. "Kisame, the fridge should still have food and the pantry is stocked as well, treat yourself to a decent meal for once in your missing-nin status." the boy said as he opened the door and walked down the hall, noticing how the area was startlingly lacking dust.

Kisame raised an eyebrow at the weirdness Naruto showed but shrugged, a full meal sounded good. He barely made it to the kitchen when he heard another door open and close, signifying Naruto leaving the house. The blue-skinned man furrowed his brow as he peeked out the window to see a black-haired girl practicing kata's of a sword in the kid's backyard. A feral grin came over his face as he watched, grabbing a box of granola bars as he did so.

Naruto stood behind the girl, curious as to how he was going to play this out. It would seem Itami had accidentally messed with his plans again. He reached a hand into one of the inside pouches of his cloak and found another paralytic poison inside the coat, slipping it into his hand which was covered by his sleeve. She seemed to not truly understand swordsmanship as her stance was too rigid, clearly angry or frustrated. "Being that stiff in your stance makes you more vulnerable Ita-hime." said the boy as the girl stopped her movements, stiff as a board.

"No welcome home hug?" asked the boy sarcastically as the girl turned her head, her vision seeing him in his missing-nin glory now that he'd removed the hood. "I've been learning from a Kenjutsu teacher recently and I have learned that the more fluid your stance the better your ability to block or attack." the boy said sagely as the girl turned all the way around. She looked much better than when he last saw her, her hair was done up in a ponytail similar to their first encounter, her Anbu armor was discarded leaving her in the sleeveless skin tight top with baggy pants on underneath.

"Damn, now I really do want a hug," the boy said as his gaze went to her B-cup breast before returning to her stony gaze, a smile on his face. She still didn't say anything so he kept the conversation going as he took casual steps toward her. "You might not feel the same but it's nice to see you. How's Mikoto-oba?" asked the boy as Itachi's gaze narrowed slightly.

"Who would teach an S-rank Nuke nin kenjutsu?" she asked, her voice was cold just like her gaze as Naruto gave her a grin that reminded her of a fox.

"Another S-rank Nuke nin," the boy said as he jabbed a thumb at his kitchen window, her gaze turning to see Kisame holding a granola bar and grinning at her. A wave of fear ran through her body, she knew she could perhaps get Naruto if she got him by surprise but she couldn't hand Kisame Hoshigaki. "Ah, I see you know who Kisame is. He's my sensei now apparently. Been teaching me Kenjutsu and Ninjutsu and stuff, been fun being a missing-nin." the boy said as he put his hands in his pockets, taking two more steps in her direction.

He saw her grip tighten on her tanto and he gained a hurt look. "You would wish to hurt me with your blade! Ita-hime I thought-" he was forcefully cut off as she dove forward slashing for him as she did so. He dodged of course but noticed the attack only would have hit him in the arm anyway. "Ah, you do not wish to kill me it seems. You probably wish to take me captive, have me answer for my crimes?" asked the boy and he could practically feel Suki grit her teeth.

"Well, you want to fight me with a sword it is only natural I respond in kind." the boy said as he unsealed his massive broadsword, wrapped in bandages like Kisame's own as Naruto held it with one hand while resting it on his shoulder. He saw her eyes widen at the size of the weapon that was taller than him and her. "Come Ita-hime, it'll be good for me to spar with someone other than Kisame." said the boy and she didn't even hesitate.

She dove forward, sword in a diagonal slash that he blocked with his larger blade looming over her. He bore down on her with help from his physical training from the past week and soon his sword was hovering over her shoulder and she almost had to go to her knees. Naruto let a grin similar to his sensei's come to his face. "Sorry Ita-hime." the boy apologized as he ripped his sword back, shredding the skin on her shoulder as she cried out in pain.

She jumped back as she held her heavily bleeding shoulder in one hand, holding her sword with her wounded arm which led to her grip being shaky. Naruto's swords bindings had been ripped in the top half, revealing the serrated double-edged blade that was not designed for cutting like most but for shedding, it made a lot of sense that Kisame would teach Naruto to use a sword like that considering the sword Kisame himself used.

Naruto dashed forward, despite her having her Sharingan active Itami could do little but roll out of the way as the massive sword hit the dirt. Rolling hadn't been a good idea as it had injured her shoulder even further but she powered through the pain as she looked at Naruto with three tomoe in each eye.

"It would seem you've upgraded your Sharingan huh? I guess congratulations are in order hime." the boy said as he put a genuine smile on his face that made the girl's stomach churn. Now that she thought about it, he was the same height as her, he'd been an inch shorter a month ago but now he was the same height of four foot four. "Ya know, my Birthdays coming up here in about a month. I probably won't be here for you to wish it to me in person so can you give me an early happy birthday?" asked the boy as she scowled at him, not budging as Naruto sighed in dismay.

"It never feels good when your crush won't even wish you a happy birthday." the boy muttered sadly as he hefted his large weapon off his shoulder, wielding it level with his waist. "Guess we have to end this fairly soon before you bleed out." the boy had a point as her shoulder wound was still running the red liquid down her arm and under her shirt. Some of her hair stuck to the wound which added to the sting and the sweat didn't help either.

Naruto blurred forward, sword hovering above her in a feint in his right hand which she sidestepped. She wasn't prepared for the paralytic poison in his hand that he poured on her pores, again watching as they absorbed the poison and watched as her eyes went wide before putting her hands to her side, perhaps to make it more comfortable. She now stood like a statue, leaving Naruto to sigh in relief as he stabbed his weapon into the ground.

"I don't blame you for losing, you couldn't have expected my sword to shave not cut." the boy muttered as his hands glowed green with medical chakra and soon the wound was nothing, leaving the unblemished skin in its wake as Naruto stepped back from her panting. "I suck at being a medic," he muttered as he wiped some sweat from his brow. "Well, I can't exactly let you go like last time since you'd blab that I'm here and that would ruin my plans quite a bit." the boy muttered to himself.

He then bent down, grabbed her around the midsection before hoisting her onto his shoulder, carrying her like a sack of potatoes. "Do you want to be restrained in the bedroom or the basement? I know you can't speak but you can grunt from your throat, grunt for the bedroom and nothing for the basement." the boy said as he entered the house nodding to Kisame as he walked to the stairs. She finally gave a reluctant grunt and Naruto smiled as he carried her up the stairs, she was very light.

"I thought you'd be kinda heavy from the muscle for all of you training. You're not though, you're light as a feather Hime-chan. Have you been eating properly?" he asked the unanswered question as he opened the door to his bedroom with one hand and carefully put her on the bed. He then reached into one of his pockets and took out a seal. "Lucky I have another Chakra suppressor." the boy said as he lifted up her shirt slightly and put the seal on her navel.

"There, now it'll be super hard for you to get it off." he realized she was sending him a glare that could melt glaciers while also having a light blush on her cheeks. The paralytic kept her from moving but her eyes and her natural body things, such as urinating, defecating, blushing were still going to happen despite her lack of movement. He let out a questioning hum as he neared his face to her own. "Are you blushing because I saw your smooth belly Ita-hime?" asked the boy as the girl's blush rose and her pupils themselves narrowing told him he was right.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm being nice here. If I wanted to make your life terrible I could steal your first kiss along with your virginity, I am not a monster though." the boy said and while her blush rose to new levels, her pupils had gone back to normal and actually looked somewhat scared. "Don't worry Ita-hime, I'm seven I'm not going to be having sex with anyone anytime soon." the boy said and he could feel the relieved breath that came out of her nostrils.

"I could take that kiss though," he added thoughtfully and she actually gave no response to that. He saw her lip actually twitch slightly and Naruto blinked. "Interesting, even Chiyo-baa didn't show signs of response for a good ten minutes. You must really want to kiss me Ita-hime." he teased as he stood, stretching as he did so. "Well, the poison will probably wear off in about an hour or so due to your accelerated response time. Kisame's going to keep an eye on you while I do what I have to do.

"He's not too bad once you get to know him. He's a bit crude and brutish but he's cool." Naruto leaned down and rubbed her cheek with a smile. "I can never get over how soft your cheek is, for someone who acts cold you are very warm," he whispered as he removed his hand and left the room, shutting the door behind him. His soft smile turned into his usual indifferent look, his eyes slowly becoming their normal cold look. He didn't need Kisame to know he had a soft spot, the man would probably know eventually but the longer he could delay that the better.

He found Kisame in the kitchen, eating some raw tuna he had found in the freezer. "I had wondered if you could eat raw meat like a shark, does it give no negative effects like it would me?" asked the boy as Kisame wiped some extra juice from the side of his mouth before grinning at the boy.

"I ain't-a full shark, but it's enough to give me the perks. The smelling blood thing is a bit weak though since I'm not underwater, I still get pretty crazy if I smell a lot of blood though." the man said as he chucked the can into a garbage bin as Naruto nodded in acceptance of the answer.

"I'm going to finish my mission, I assume you can handle a nine-year-old girl?" asked the boy, sarcasm dripping from his voice. The massive man scoffed as he stood and Naruto nodded again. "She is currently paralyzed but she will break out of it in about an hour which will give her free movement, I put a chakra suppressor seal on her stomach, as long as she doesn't take that off she is restricted to tai and kenjutsu. I'm sure you can handle her for the next few hours." the boy said as he walked to the door, flipping up his hood as he did so.

"Have fun grave-robbing!" the swordsman exclaimed a little too happy as Naruto rolled his eyes and left. He walked down the streets, making sure not to use chakra under fear it will be recognized by Kakashi or someone else that knew him. So, here he was walking all the way into the deep parts of Konoha, the area that was no longer populated. The area he was heading to was the Uzumaki and Senju estates which were both ruined in the Kyuubi attack due to a massive Bijuudama ripping off the rooves of most buildings.

This was evident as he passed into the dark and unkempt area of Konohagakure, looking around at the wildlife and overgrowth that filled the area. The smooth cobble road had cracks with weeds and other plants pushing through to the surface, trees had actually started growing along the sides. It had only been seven years though and they weren't fully grown, looking more like very trimmed bushes than anything. He pushed past the civilian houses and Uzumaki compound to the great Senju compound.

It used to be the great Senju compound.

Now rabbits ran around the mossy land, the buildings and walls were ruined by the attack leaving massive holes for Naruto to be able to walk through to get to his destination. The scenery was serene in a way, the trees were thicker the shrubbery was greener, the animals were more here and life, in general, seemed better in the Senju compound. The trees made the area shaded, making it a cool paradise as he looked at the animals that ran around him and the birds that chirped.

It would seem the Mokuton wood Hashirama had used to make the buildings led to them making the trees in the area grow much better than others. He sighed in contentment as he stepped through the tall grass, making his way to the biggest building of the Senju compound. In all fairness it had probably been bigger since the entire left half of it was missing but it was still the largest building in the compound. He pushed the already open door to the side, listening to the loud creak it gave off due to rust.

The inside of the building didn't look as bad as he thought it would, the Mokuton wood kept the inside preserved so now everything was just dusty. Now he had to find the bodies themselves, this was the hard part because while he knew the Clan head would be buried inside the Clan House, he doesn't know where. He assumed it would be below ground so now he had to find the stairs leading down there. With that thought in mind, he went on an adventure of the Senju Clan House.

He actually took his time and examined the things he passed, looking in every room and every hall. He would inspect the empty rooms and look at the trinkets and random things that people had in their rooms before their untimely demise. In one room there was a massive stuffed toy, in another there were building blocks, in another, the walls were lined with kunai. He came to the end of the hall and walked down the dark corridor, cursing his lack of ability to summon flame himself.

 _"Think you can make me glow or something? We're too far out to be sensed."_ the boy asked his captive Biju as a thinking sound came from inside the seal and soon his eyes became red with black slits, giving him an almost perfect vision in the darkness. _"Thanks."_ the boy thanked the fox as he carried on down the stairs. The stairs went for about a minute before he came to a wood wall with two torch holders on the side and a steel door in the middle.

It was a long stone tunnel which made Naruto figure he was in the right place as he tried to open the door but found it locked. Naruto narrowed his eyes in annoyance as he looked at the door that was sealed shut. He attempted to kick the door down but it did not budge. **(2)** He scowled at the door in annoyance as it kept him from his goals. _"One tail of power."_ the boy ground through grit teeth, he was rather frustrated that they had gotten a wall made of Hashirama's mokuton to keep people away from Hashirama's body.

The cloak soon came over him and Naruto looked at his deadly hands that held the cloak of red. Naruto took a deep breath before pulling his arm back and punching right through the wood above the handle, reaching through and unlocking the door before opening the door, wrenching his hand free as he did so. **(3)** The cloak faded away as he walked down the stone hall, his shoes making thunderous steps in the echoing hall. He soon passed the hall, leading into a room big enough to be a building.

It wasn't too long, it was probably ten-fifteen feet from Naruto to walk to the other side. But it was wide, expanding a good fifty feet, to say the least. He looked and saw two coffins that were alone in the wide span of the room, they had probably expected to not go extinct quickly.

He shook the thought as he stepped towards the two graves, he actually felt rather giddy as he did so with the bodies of the Nidaime and Shodaime Hokage right in front of him ready to be turned into puppets. He slowly pushed the stone slab off the top of Hashirama's tomb and came face to face with the man's body, it had been perfectly preserved like he'd hoped and the man looked as if he had just died. Naruto smiled, examining the body for at least a minute before finally withdrawing a sealing scroll and sealing the first Hokage into it.

He moved to the next stone coffin and pushed off the lid and got the same result. The man's white hair was very similar to Naruto's own with his happuri framing his face. The red lines were still there somehow as they contrasted against his pale skin. Naruto sealed the man into a separate scroll that he had marked two with the one the Shodaime had been sealed being marked One. He knew Hiruzen's body was going to be in the Sarutobi compound which would be practically impossible to break into.

Naruto then turned around, glad he'd gotten what he needed and left the basement before leaving the compound and was soon back on the main road to his house. He got there with no problems which was a first in his life with his plans having nothing go wrong. He opened the door to his house and heard Kisame's boisterous laugh and was immediately on edge if Itami could make Kisame laugh like that she was either being cooperable or attempting to attack him and failing.

Naruto opened the door to his room, coming to the image of Kisame sitting in a chair to the side with Itami on the bed her legs crossed as she drank tea. "This is a much more civil picture than I thought it'd be." the boy said as Kisame shrugged.

"She's been pretty calm, she asked for some tea and made some cracks about you but other than that she's been a good little Uchiha girl." the blue-skinned man said as the girl stared at Naruto with a gaze somewhere between hatred and neutrality. Three hours ago she would have glared at him, what had Kisame done? Itami took a calm sip of her tea as the silver-haired boy in front of her clicked his tongue and turned to the man at the chair.

"Well I got what I needed, are we staying the night or leaving?" asked the puppeteer as Kisame cast an eye out the window, seeing the moon he made his decision. Kisame settled in his chair, even more, leaning his sword against the chair as he did so. Naruto got the answer he wanted and sighed running a hand through his hair. He personally didn't want to stay but Kisame was the senior missing-nin so he knew what to do better than Naruto knew how to do it.

Sleeping a night in a house wouldn't be too terrible for one night anyway. "Very well, Ita-hime you're allowed to be anywhere in the house I guess. I'd sense you if you tried to leave and Kisame would be able to stop you before you took a step outside the door." the boy explained her situation to her as he turned, opening the door as he did so.

"How do you know someone won't come searching for me? It's not often the Uchiha heiress goes missing." the ANBU questioned as Naruto turned his head over his shoulder, grinning as he did so.

"I'm sure you had planned to spend the night training anyway, it won't be strange for you to arrive home tomorrow they could just think you're training hard." the boy took satisfaction as he watched her fall back on the bed as if she was tired, she knew she was stuck. He headed off into the house to do things the two in that room knew not, no one truly knew what Naruto Namikaze was thinking or doing other than Naruto Namikaze.

"So why were you at the Gaki's place anyway girly?" he got no answer from the dark-haired prodigy. "Aight, well if you're not gonna answer I'm just gonna list off possibilities. Troubles at home, better training ground, privacy, you didn't want anyone seein what you're doin," none of those got so much as a twitch from the girl and Kisame made a contemplative noise as he rubbed his chin.

"Because you missed him and the place reminds you of him, because you miss him, cuz you like him," he would have continued if he didn't see her left eye flicker ever so slightly. "AHA!" the man exclaimed as he slapped his knee, seeing the dread crawl onto the girls face. "You like the boy who killed your father!" the Blue-haired man accused as Itami gave him her darkest glare possible.

"I don't like him!" she hissed at the blue-haired man and while her mouth said one thing, her mind flooded with memories that said another.

When he teased her at her house.

When he'd called her a hime for the first time and her blush that followed.

When he'd protected her body with his own.

When he'd cupped her cheek.

When he'd told her he was sorry.

When he'd offered to steal her first kiss and the butterflies in her stomach that followed.

She hated him for killing her father, the Sandaime and the other Uchiha as well as the ANBU but the part of her mind that liked him told her that had been the fox. In her mind the part of him she liked was Naruto, and the part that had committed those crimes had been the Kyuubi. Naruto had had bad luck with the fox taking control,

 _"Ironic isn't it? The fox took control because I had feelings for you and because of that you gained a different kind of feeling for me. Maybe in a better, different world, it could have happened."_

It's not his fault that he had gained a crush on her, she'd gained a crush on him too so it was understandable to say the very least. While she still needed answers for many things she would admit she had a small crush on him, not that she planned on acting on it anytime soon but she did have it, it was there. She gave a soft laugh, about the same level as a light clearing of the throat but it was the biggest sign of amusement she'd shown in the month since her father's death.

"I guess it is rather strange, having a crush on an S-rank missing-nin who I'm supposed to turn in," she muttered softly as Kisame gave one more loud chuckle. "Please don't tell Naruto. It would go to his head and inflate his ego." she pleaded with the swordsman who raised an eyebrow at her but before he could answer Naruto opened the door causing both to look at him.

"Dinner's ready, eat if you're hungry." said the boy before returning from where he came, leaving the door open as he did so as the two blinked in surprise that Naruto had been doing that.

"If I feel like it I might tell the kid." the blue man said as he stood, ready to eat something and Itami followed him, frown on her face as she did so. She found the Dining room table with Naruto at one end of it, eating rice and pork with a small saucer of broth to the side, it looked very tasty. He also seemed to gain a certain level of finesse as he ate, his forearms against the edge of the glass table his coat laying on the back of the chair as he ate, his white hair hanging over his eyes slightly with the very faint whisker lines on the sides of his mouth framing his face.

Kisame was the opposite, elbows on the table as he ate with a bit of fish juice dribbling down his chin. She blinked, Naruto had made everyone something different. He'd made himself rice, pork, and broth. He'd made Kisame a steamed fish and another type of sauce to go with it. He'd made her a steak and about a cup of mashed potatoes. She blinked down at her plate as she took a seat in front of the plate.

Naruto chewed a small chunk of pork as he pointed to Itami's plate with his fork. "You were too easy to lift," he said after swallowing his pork. "You need to gain more weight, a frail ninja is a weak ninja." the boy said and before she could even reply to that rude comment she heard a grunt from her right. She turned to see Kisame nodding along with Naruto giving a thumbs-up as he did so. She sighed and stared at the knife next to her plate.

She picked it up and gave Naruto a curious look. He swallowed a mouthful of rice before answering the unasked question. "We're S-rank Ninja hime. If you attacked us with a steak knife you'd be a lot dumber than I thought." the boy said before picking up a piece of pork, dipping it in his broth before eating it. She couldn't deny the reasoning and picked up her fork in her other hand, ready to eat her first full meal in days. "Arigatou." the girl whispered and Naruto gave her an open-mouth grin with pork between his teeth causing the girl to scoff before eating.

"The gaki romance in here is suffocating." the only adult muttered, causing both to blush slightly but didn't deny his claim or stop eating. "So any chance the Uchiha princess will tell us how you're training? Or you gonna be a stiff and not tell us?" asked the blue-haired man as both he and Naruto looked at her curious of her answer.

"Am I allowed to know what Naruto is learning?" asked the girl as she had a spoonful of the mashed potatoes which were very tasty, who would think that Nuke-nin seven-year-old's knew how to cook. Kisame and Naruto shared a look before shrugging.

"I am learning to control Kyuubi's chakra as well Kenjutsu." she didn't need to know everything. She didn't need to know that he was learning how to Water Ninjutsu nor how he was going to experiment dissecting someone tomorrow.

"I am practicing my Fire Ninjutsu as well as Kenjutsu," she answered dutifully and politely as Kisame raised a brow.

"You got fancy eyes and you're not learning stuff with those? That's like having massive reserves and restricting yourself to only puppetry!" the man exclaimed as Naruto send him a flat look for the barb and Itami snorted softly as she moved onto her steak, finished with the potatoes. She hadn't realized how truly hungry she was, maybe Naruto was right.

* * *

Naruto stared down Itami's sleeping form, cloak donned as he and Kisame readied to leave. They had chosen now since while she was asleep was their best chance and it would give them the most amount of time to get away before the hunter-nin closed in on them. Naruto put a note on the nightstand before giving her soft locks a light pat as he left the room, closing the door lightly so that she wouldn't wake up. He met Kisame by the door and the two nodded before exiting the house, it wasn't even daybreak yet it was still a dark blue in the sky and Kisame had said now was their best chance.

So the two walked down the main road, using Naruto's sensing ability to avoid ANBU patrols as they hopped over the wall and into the forestry surrounding Konohagakure. Naruto and Kisame made it about a mile from the village before they came across a pair of sentries. They could have easily avoided them but Naruto needed bodies to experiment his puppetizing of a human body and he refused to try that out on the Nidaime and Shodaime, fearing he could mess up and ruin the chance to have the Mokuton in his grasp.

Naruto snuck up behind the two and slit the napes of their throats, killing the two instantaneously as the two fell to the ground in a heap of limbs. Naruto sealed their bodies in one scroll as both he and Kisame set out into the world. They didn't go for far or long, they simply went to Tanzaku no Gai because Naruto needed to start what he was going to do as soon as possible for him to be able to have at least two puppets two defend himself with.

He and Kisame walked down the street, finding a hotel perfect for the duty Naruto needed it to do. He walked into it, Kisame following him as the boy placed some Ryo bills on the counter. "Two Hotel rooms please." the boy said kindly, his hood off to show the smiling face of Naruto. It was a fake smile but it was a kind face and people were more responsive to a kind person than a cold bastard, the person was a civilian so he didn't need to worry about being recognized from his BINGO book entry.

The female attendant gave him a kind smile as she took the Ryo. "Of course sweetie. Here's the keys, rooms 103 and 104. If you have any questions please come and ask!" she exclaimed cheerfully as Naruto gave a closed-eye smile to her before taking the keys and walking up the stairs to their hotel rooms.

"Why two rooms?" asked the blue-skinned man in curiosity once they were alone as Naruto rose a brow at him in questioning.

"Do you want to sleep next to the two dead bodies and all of the guts and organs I take out?" asked the boy as Kisame grunted, showing he knew Naruto had a point. "I'll use 103 and get started right away, you can go do whatever it is you do in your free time. Kill someone or something I don't care." the boy said as he headed into the room, shutting the door behind him as Kisame stifled a yawn and went into the other room to get some sleep.

He wasn't allowed to sleep forever though and was woken up at least six hours later due to it being night, Naruto kicking him awake to do so. The boy seemed exhausted and had specks of blood on him. "I thought I'd let you know, I completed one of them successfully but the other one I ruined their nervous system so it won't work. I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep, there is a decaying pile of organs and limbs in the other room don't go in unless you wish to see that." the boy said his peace before he walked off, the sound of the shower flicking on a moment later.

Kisame's morbid curiosity got the better of him as he got up and went into the other room they'd purchased, the smell of the bloody iron almost enough to make him go into a craze. The boy was right, the torso was sitting on a cot and there was a bucket filled with two arms and legs with another bucket holding the heart and other organs. The torso was ripped open and there were wood stints holding the flesh up to keep it from becoming an empty pillowcase.

All muscle and meat and blood were gone from the body, leaving just the skin itself and even the skull and brain had been removed from the puppet. He turned his head to look in the bathroom and found it covered in blood too, the blood pooled around in the tile floor and edges of the tub and walls were painted with specks of the red liquid.

There was a pile of once upon a time white scrubs Naruto had used to perform the task, there was also lack of a second body showing Naruto had actually gotten one correctly. Kisame shook his head to try and clear his natural instincts to hunt and kill something but they didn't go away, leading Kisame to go out and kill everyone in a bar which was no small number before leaving, his craze sated as he went back to sleep.

 **That's the chapter. Decent things have been covered, Itachi knows she likes Naruto but has a certain view on Naruto that isn't exactly correct.**

 **(1) Jiraiya managed to convince Tsunade in ways I do not fully know. You could say she got too drunk and was tricked into it if you want.**

 **(2) This wall made it to where Orochimaru couldn't get Hashirama's body and due to that, there is no Tenzo. Nothing against the character it's just I felt like doing that for this story and it made it easier for Naruto to get Hashirama's whole body as opposed to Orochimaru practically mutilating the corpse most likely making it unsalvageable as a puppet.**

 **(3) The wood had gotten weak over the years and while it would have probably stopped all nine tails when just made, the years had slowly sapped the chakra from it so the potency of the rancid Bijuu chakra made it easy to rip through the wood.**

 **Orochimaru and Sasori are on the hunt for them! Just as comrades not as prey which is an interesting twist. So, a Senju being chosen as the Hokage again I wonder how that'll go over with the Uchiha clan? Kisame now knows about the crush on both sides and the fate of their relationship rests in his hands! DRAMA!**


End file.
